Something to this day
by LightRedemption
Summary: A new champion has been crowned at Indigo Plateau, but this is not about him. Only the sequence of events that follow might draw the cynical Sabrina and the introverted Erika out of their shells. Intended to be a one-shot but was convinced otherwise. I decided to stop my original work elsewhere and focus on non-literature projects, meaning I'd write this in my free time.
1. Prolouge ?

**Hello, LightRedemption here. This is my first time uploading my story on FFN, and you're not going to get much other than that from me. The story is what important, rates and reviews are always welcomed though.**

_Disclaimer (apparently I have to do this): I don't own any characters used in this story._

**The setting of this story is set in the world of the game Pokémon Fire Red/Leaf Green a.k.a Gen III.**

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_Prologue:_

_Something to this day_

"Hello?"

"Hello, is Miss Sabrina there?"

"No."

"Oh? Have you any idea where she is at the moment?"

"I'm sorry, but who is this?"

"I'm Erika, gym leader of Celadon?"

"Ah, my apologies, I didn't recognize you."

"That's fine, really. May I ask where Sabrina is?"

"She is at Vermillion at the moment, visiting if I'm not mistaken."

"Oh... well thank you."

"Would you like me to tell her you called when she gets back?"

"That would not be necessary."

With that, Erika hung up the phone. She sighed in frustration. She had been trying to call Sabrina for a long time, but only got around to do so recently. She was busy, both of them were. With a new champion coming up the Hall of Fames, the gym leaders had been handed a handful of annoyances to take care of. According to the League, the eight of them were to gather up in a meeting, held as soon as possible, in order to discuss the matter of how to deal with the Champion's decision of not staying as one of the Elite Four. It was such a bother, they all thought, but Erika was different. Her personality and image forbade her from showing her discontent. It's not like she wanted to be able to be cynical and cold like "you-know-who", but she at least wanted to stay true to her own feelings. If only people didn't expect so much of her.

Speaking of which, Erika has been trying to reach Erika in order to inform the colleague of the news of the meeting. It was the responsibility which she so eagerly accepted. However, she has been unable reach the female psychic. Still, since Sabrina is visiting Surge, it is highly likely that he would tell her instead. Erika felt a bit of discomfort thinking that. It was supposed to be her job after all, and she didn't want people doing her job for her. She can imagine it now. Surge mentioning the meeting, Sabrina acting surprised, and people would think that Erika could not do her job right. Erika would definitely not stand that. It might be a bit late, but she had made up her mind. She figured she would be able to catch Sabrina somewhere around town before she gets in touch with, and everything would be alright.

So, she decided to go to Vermillion herself.

She could not understand why she did it though, once she had already set foot on the S. S. Anne. Thinking back, she realized she just made extra effort for such an insignificant thing. However, what done is done, and she would rather not drown in her failure. She had a job to do, after all.

...

Erika has been staring at the wall for the last hour, sitting firmly on her chair. The S. would arrive at Vermillion at dawn tomorrow, but it is almost dinner time and she did not want to fall asleep. However, in her haste, she had not gone with any means of entertaining herself. That is why she was now bored out of her mind, having to resort to drying concrete to keep herself from falling asleep. Even when alone, her unconscious need to maintain a calm demeanor simply forced her to stay up tight, even at this moment.

"That's it."

Erika lightly snapped at the wind and stood up. She tried meditating before, it never worked. That was why Erika decided that she needed to go elsewhere in order to be entertained. She was on a cruise, after all. Wasting the whole day away like this seemed like such a bad way to spend the time. Out of the room, making her way towards the sun deck, Erika could already feel the night wind brushing against her face, swaying her hair back and forth. It was not long enough to be messy from that, though, and she was thankful. Interestingly enough, the sun deck was quite empty at that moment. It was a weekday, and today was just not a crowded day. She took that as a stroke of luck, since she wanted some place to think that didn't feel like being trapped to be in. Settling down a nearby wooden lounge chair, Erika had the entire river to herself at this point.

That was when her mind started to drift, onto various things. First would be why she was on this cruise at the moment in the first place. Erika found an easy answer for herself on that one. She was here to see Sabrina and deliver the message. A second question popped up in her head: why? She scoffed; it was silly to her. Obviously it was because she would not want other people to look down on her. However, she pondered at that. Would people seriously think less of her just because of something like this? Probably not, she settled. Then why was she even here? She was going to see Sabrina, end of story.

Smiling, Erika accepted that it was just as good a reason as everything else. She had not seen Sabrina in a while. They had both been busy shaping up their respective gyms as well as training in order to up the ante for the Pokémon tournament next year. However, this was the season of rest, though, since a new champion has just been crowned recently. Erika realized that she had always been closer to Sabrina that everyone else was. The female psychic usually acted uninterested in a lot of things, which is why she was never really popular among the gym leaders. However, Erika herself never did feel that hostility towards her that Sabrina a lot of times displayed to people, even their colleagues sometimes. Erika wondered about that, since it seemed very peculiar to her. However, her train of thought was soon interrupted by her surroundings, more specifically the sound of a chair settling itself besides hers.

"Hello."

Erika noticed a woman had pulled one up and rested next to her. Her greeting went unanswered though, which she thought was odd. Taking a closer look at the woman, Erika immediately caught glimpse of the majestic black mane behind the woman. It was extremely familiar, not to mention the cynical attitude that the long-haired woman was giving off.

"Sabrina?"

Sabrina tilted her head. She really was not expected someone to notice her in a situation like this. She had taken the un-busiest day of the cruise in order to have it for herself, yet she had somehow run into an acquaintance. She did not care much for the person who was here first, of course. The only reason she pulled her lounge chair up close was because they shared the best spot to enjoy the sea view on the entire deck. However, after a brief moment, Sabrina had recognized the person who was calling to her.

"Erika, it has been a while." A smile appeared on the speaker's face.

"It really has." Erika seemed happy as well, although her expression seemed a lot perkier than her friend. "I was actually looking for you!"

"How so?" Sabrina craned an eyebrow. Usually people would just stay away from her, if it weren't for something important.

"A new champion has been crowned." Erika stated, but was rather bemused by Sabrina's unchanging expression. "We are to gather up in a meeting three days from now, at the Indigo Plateau. I was assigned to inform you."

"I'm not going." Sabrina stated coldly, which earned her a surprised gasp. Erika didn't mean to be so caught off guard, but she could not help it. "Don't be like that. You know I really hate that kind of occasions."

"But you have never refused to go to one before!" Erika couldn't help but protest. A sinking feeling started forming within her stomach, since all the effort she put into this trip might have just been wasted.

"Well, I can't take it anymore." Sabrina shrugged. She had no mind to argue at the moment, although if it came she would be hard-pressed to suppress it. "I won't go anymore. It is not like my being there ever mattered to anyone. People would just go ahead and decide without me anyways."

"That's not true!" Erika couldn't help but retorted. She knew what her friend said was wrong. However, getting that piece of mind across was harder than expected. "You... I..."

"ERIKA!" Sabrina's sudden action silenced the female botanist. "Just, stop, please? I'm not here to fight anyone."

"But..." Erika simply could not finish her sentence this time around. The large ship's phone echoed through their ears, ending any hopes of a comeback for the botanist:

"Passengers, please help yourself to the dining hall to enjoy our luxurious dinner. Our theme tonight is: Couple's night."

"Do you wanna come?" Sabrina extended her hand towards Erika, earning her a confused look from the short-haired woman. "Don't look at me like that. You're coming too, obviously. Why not just go together?"

"Oh, yes, most definitely." Erika smiled, but her heart felt like it skipped a beat. For a moment there she thought Sabrina was asking her to go to couple's night as an item. What a silly though, she settled. Taking her friend's hand, Erika stepped off the chair and walked with Sabrina towards the lower floor, where the dining hall was located. Their hands never broke apart, however, and she was not at all complaining. Something in the back of her head reminded her that this was definitely not Sabrina's usual behavior, but Erika simply chose to ignore that. There is nothing wrong with it, so to speak, so she didn't see the point of getting all worked up over it. It was not long before they reached their destination. The room was a lacking one, so it was not hard to find a table to their likings.

"What would we be serving you ladies today?" The waiter, apparently trying his best to acquire a French accent, came over to them and said. "May we suggest the couple's deal; it is our special for the night."

"Oh, but we're... not a couple." Erika smiled awkwardly, trying to stop the waiter from getting the wrong idea. However, it didn't fly that well.

"We would have the special, please." Sabrina ended the conversation with about the most pretentious smile Erika has ever seen her mutter. The waiter had not the slightest idea, though. He simply took off, leaving the two women alone.

"Why did you..." Erika inquired, but was cut off once again.

"Simply because that would save us both some money, and there are simply no reason not to." Sabrina's smile turned genuine over the course of the conversation. "Is it really that bad?"

"No, I guess not." Erika smiled in return. She was just being paranoid again. There was simply no reason to worry. "So, why are you here Sabrina?"

"Surge called me." Sabrina answered bluntly, causing Erika to feel a rather disappointed. She had no idea why, but swallowed it.

"Why?"

"He wanted to ask me out."

"Oh..." Erika felt her expression dropped at that point. Calming herself down, she felt as if she had been thinking of something rather dangerous. She tried her best to continue. "So did you accept?"

"Are you crazy? Of course I didn't!" Sabrina forcefully retorted. Her flustered reaction caused a smile to creep on to Erika's face, without the botanist even knowing it. "What are you so happy about?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Erika controlled herself and settled down. She couldn't help but feel happy though. "Why didn't you though?"

"Why would I? I barely know the guy!" Sabrina couldn't understand what Erika was thinking even considering it. "I'm not even interested in men."

"What?" Erika could not help but flinch at that notion. So Sabrina was a lesbian? Who knew?

"You didn't know, did you?" The female psychic seemed rather nonchalant towards her friend's reaction. It was to be understood, she though. "No one ever asked, so I never did tell. Surge knows though, he used to be my close friend when we were younger, although he's like 12 years older than me. The damn guy, military man type, thinks homosexuality doesn't mean shit."

"Sabrina..." Erika didn't expect the foul language from her friend at all, but she didn't delve on that. Instead it was the discovery of her friend suddenly having a thing for the ladies that was on her mind. "Did you ever...?"

"What are you getting at?" Sabrina crossed her arms and huffed. Erika could be getting at a lot of things with that question.

"Well I mean: have you ever dated before?" Erika could feel her face blushing because of that. It was a funny sight, but Sabrina didn't catch it.

"Not really, I was aware, but I was just socially introverted." The female psychic shrugged. There was little she knew about dating a girl, if that what her friend wanted to ask. "Have you?"

"Eh?" Erika was taken aback by that. Obviously she had never considered it before. "What do you mean?"

"Really, you never noticed?" Sabrina seemed a bit surprised as well to see Erika shaking her head rather profusely. "Well, since you're usually with your girls inside the gym, rumors have been going around for quite a while."

"I honestly have no idea." Erika made a hand gesture of swearing honor. It amused her friend to no end. "What?"

"Well, I'm sorry." Sabrina could not help but chuckle. "You just seem kind of defensive about it."

"I don't mean anything. I just honestly never noticed."

Their conversation was cut off as the waiter returned with the order. It was something quite peculiar, at least that was the vibe being given. Moments later, their course was handed down on the table, pretty much everything you would expect for a romantic dinner.

"Would you like some fine wine?" The waiter asked.

"Yes please, her too." Sabrina held up her cup with a hint of flare in her eyes. Erika didn't catch a glimpse of it though, and she just accepted the wine, even though she had no intention of drinking it.

"Is there anything else, ladies?"

"That would be all, thank you."

With that, the waiter left the two to be alone once again, which they appreciated. The meal was rather huge for their apatite, so they made a note to no try and act otherwise. The continuation was rather quiet though, as both of the women preferred to dine in silence. It was not until the wine gets to Sabrina that the conversation picked up.

"You should have this." Sabrina held out her own wine glass and offered it to her friend, but Erika wouldn't have it. She was not one to fully reject an offer though. "It's really good."

"Maybe later." The botanist exclaimed.

"I would hold you up on that."

Soon, the two of them felt like no longer pushing themselves to eat anymore. Sabrina handled the check, which Erika didn't feel like stopping. She made a mental note to repay the woman afterwards though.

"Come to my room, I have my wallet with me there." Erika's invitation flew over Sabrina, who was already tipsy at this point. She seemed like she would simply go with whatever her companion suggested. Of course, her hands still held the wine bottle they had earlier. After the two made it to Erika's quarters, Sabrina found herself looking for the glasses within the room, ignoring what the other female was doing altogether. While Erika was trying to find the cash she brought, Sabrina was serving herself some more wine.

"Here, my share." Erika has finally reached her wallet, but turned around to find her friend quite less than sober. "Sabrina, you're drunk already."

"So?" Tipping herself under glass, Sabrina approached her friend, even though her motions weren't quite coherent. "You promised you'd have a drink when we get here, remember?"

"Well, I do, but..."

"But what? Are you going to walk out on a promise?" Sabrina was now sporting a wicked smile on her face, much different than her usual demeanor. "Come on~"

"Fine." Erika huffed. She usually would not be so difficult, but something about Sabrina just made her feel more at ease, more of herself. "Give it to me."

The botanist craned an eyebrow, seeing Sabrina coming at her while drinking the wine glass intended for her. She had no idea what her friend was thinking at all. However, she was caught dead off guard the female psychic's lips rested upon her own. Frozen in shock, she could feel her mouth being forced open, with the liquid, just like a stream of rose bouquet, streaming inside and down her throat. This exchange continued slowly for over a full minute, even after the wine was swallowed up whole.

"How was it?" Sabrina asked, licking her lips as she let Erika off. A smile was apparent on her face, while the botanist simply stood there in disbelief. "I told you this wine were good."

Erika was unable to answer. Her heart beats in frenzy. She gulped as the psychic's face seemed to become closer. What do I do? She panicked. If Sabrina pressed herself against her again, she had no idea of how she could react. What she expected didn't come though. Sabrina dropped after that, which Erika unconsciously caught within her arms. It was obvious that Sabrina drunk herself to sleep.

Erika's pulses races within her, as she was beginning to feel hot. It could possibly be the wine; she wouldn't know. However, the problem persisted. Erika's mind became frantic with various thoughts. She had no idea of what she would do. The most obvious answer would simply be letting her friend down to the bed, which she did just that. How to continue, was the real question. Her better judgment told her just to leave the woman alone, but there is definitely something else inside of her, yearning for affection that saw only Sabrina as an immediate attraction. Erika motioned closer, before she decided she should just stop thinking.

**Edit: The story is now officially extended. Proceed for the official first chapter.**


	2. Walk this way

**Well I guess I'm back here again. Even though the original plan was to make this a one-shot, a friend of mine had apparently successfully convinced me to continue with this work. She had her way, I must admit. So, I'm here now, and let's get this story officially started, because if you hadn't noticed before, the previous chapter (?) was nothing more than a prologue. Reviews are always appreciated but not mandatory, since I do feel satisfaction in my own work.**

_Disclaimer (apparently I have to do this): I don't own any characters used in this story._

**The setting of this story is set in the world of the game Pokémon Fire Red/Leaf Green a.k.a Gen III.**

* * *

_Chapter 1: Walk this way_

"Hello?"

"Hello, is Miss Sabrina there?"

"Yes, sir, may I ask who you are?"

"Tell her that it's an old friend."

"Yes, sir. Please hold on a minute."

…

"Hello, this is Sabrina."

"Sabrina, how are you?"

"Surge?"

"You know it!"

"What exactly do you want?"

"Why are you so cold? I thought we were closer than this."

"Not close enough, so tell me now before I have to slam this phone down."

"Damn it, Sabrina, why are you always like that? Fine, the League had a message for you."

"The League? I thought I told those people to just leave me alone."

"They say it's important and for me to tell you about it."

"Important enough for me to care?"

"Yes. How soon can you make port?"

Sabrina silently cursed. It was bad enough that she just had to interrupt her own focus to have such an idiotic conversation with a person that she did not want to speak to, she apparently had to agree to meet him too. Sighing, Sabrina was left without a real choice. As far as she was concerned, every single League work was always such a drag, and she usually tries to stay away from those things as much as possible. However, it seemed like she had little choice this time around. She might hate Surge, but she knew that he would never lie to her. If he said it was something important enough that require her involvement, it would only be exactly that and nothing less. She might never admit it, but she did enjoy having her place in the League, as far as being a closed-off gym leader would be. She'd rather be doing this than some office work somewhere. She had Surge to thank for that, reluctantly.

"Dan."

"Yes Miss Sabrina?"

"Tell my apprentices to close off my Gym for a few days, I'm heading out."

"Yes Miss, where would you be going?"

"Vermillion."

"Yes Miss."

Sabrina scoffed as she turned to her inner chambers to pack things up. Thinking about it, she was fully aware that Dan was a rather committed member of her gym. He had always been doing things to the best of his abilities. She would have trained him too, if his abilities themselves weren't so completely limited. Rather, she had to take in smug trainers from all over the region, thinking that they apparently have what it takes to prove they were good enough to be one of her underlings. They always used "apprentices", but she knew that she would rather think of them as familiars to willingly do her bidding, rather than consensual beings. Of course, there were always some tough nuts to crack from time to time. That boy who came to this gym a few months ago was one of them. She had to make it a fair fight, according to the League's stupid rules. It was stupid in her opinion at least, since there was no apparent reason for gym leaders to have to tone down their assaults for some puny 10 year olds to be able to fulfill his/her dreams. She did it nonetheless though, and she lost as expected. However, she did not lose on purpose for him like many of the bratty kids that used to come to this gym, got whipped to the ground and got her badge for consolation. No, this guy was good. She hated that he turned out to be better than her.

"The port is here."

"Yeah, here's your cash."

"What, no tip?"

"Would you just piss off?"

The cab driver grunted and left. Sabrina should have felt better after doing that, but she did not. Instead, she felt even worse, but definitely not because of some guilt. Rather it was because of the fact that she would have to meet Surge soon, and there was no way around it, so it'd be better if she'd just get this over soon. She recalled when she was young, she never realized how much of a prick he was, but she does now. There was just nothing about him that she could even stand looking at anymore.

Being a gym leader, one of their privileges was to be able to board the S.S. Anne anytime they wanted, for free. She would have preferred to do so a bit more often as well, if Surge himself were not always hugging the boat like a boar and its piece of meat. It was only a few hours straight ride from Saffron to Vermillion, but this being the luxurious tour boat that it was, the S.S. Anne always took its time around the bay. She did not mind, honestly, since it would mean she could delay facing Surge. Getting on the boat at the late afternoon did not help though, considering how little time she actually had left before arriving on shore of Vermillion. It was, in fact, soon to be dinner time, and Sabrina was just sitting in her room right now, doing basically nothing. It did not bother her much though. She was psychic after all, and a great one at that. Suppressing her needs was an easy thing to do, and so was meditating.

Before she knew it, the horn of the ship had already ringed, calling her for dinner. Sabrina was torn for the briefest of moments. She was not sure whether to go to the hall to eat something or just simply stay here for the rest of the day and get out tomorrow. Weighing her options, she felt like it was a truly hard choice. On one hand, she would get more time to meditate; on the other hand, she would get some energy back, since she had not eaten anything since this morning. Sighing, she decided to get up and grab some food, since she suspected she would need all the energy she can get once tomorrow comes.

Unsurprisingly, the food did not appeal to her much. Looking over things, she decided just to go with the most efficient of meals for her money. Silly thing was that everyone had to pay their own meal regardless, even though the travel money on this trip is often skipped for several of people. That was why young trainers who got free tickets aboard the S.S. Anne usually pull themselves away from the temptation of the food court and just make due with what they had. She had not really been on this ship for too many times, but she knew how overpriced the food here can be. In fact, it bothered her so much that even though she was rich, even for a gym leader, she just chose to skip everything and keep meditating. This time was different though, as she ordered some actual food for herself. Gourmet chefs or not, she assured herself she did not need all those delicious yet little amount of food presented on the plates of others around her. They were just throwing money out the window in her opinion, and she did not feel sorry for them at all. Let those smug bastards break their own fortune, she was not here nor there to be concerned about how they spend their money.

It took her a full half hour of waiting to get her serve, even though the food court themselves were not too overly populated. She suspected it was because those cooks were just purposely trying to piss her off, but she did not care regardless. Eating her food, she had to take note of how different burgers taste when they were four times as expensive as a usual one. She did not care much about eating junk food either, unlike some other girls she could mention. Since she work out all the time, it would be hard for unhealthy things like that to be able to leave their mark on her body. At least that was one of the many things she could have been proud of.

Her meal ended quietly, nothing short of her previous expectations. The waiter did seem somewhat bothered how little she spent on her meal, but at least he had the decency not to show it while she was still there. Being the psychic that she was, it was easy for her to read his motions. If he actually said anything, she wondered, would she simply just hit him out of spite or something. People sometimes mistake her silence as a sign of calm. In truth, she was just too pissed off at what everyone else does that if she were to act on every single one of those occasions she would have been behind bars by now. The fact that she was a psychic, able to read the minds of those creeps was not helping anything at all still.

Surrendering to her own quarters, Sabrina wondered slightly about what she was going to do tomorrow. She could always bail on Surge with some ridiculous excuses that he would just buy anyways. However, that would make her nothing more than a coward who could not deal with her own problems. Her pride being hurt would probably bother her to no end, so she decided she was going to go through with it.

"We have arrived in Vermillion, and we will stay here for the next two hours. Passengers who wish to make quick trips and visits are advised to leave immediately should they want to make it back for the next course, or they would have to wait until tomorrow's morning. That is all."

Sabrina could not wait to get down from the ship. She wanted to wrap this thing up as fast as possible. She knew that the only reason which Surge did not inform her about what she needed to know through the phone was because he wanted to request a personal meeting. She hated that though. Why people can never come right up and tell her what their intentions were was beyond her. Regardless, she did not want to bother herself with him after this, so she would just make this quick.

Thankfully, she avoided any unnecessary travels due to the fact that Vermillion's gym was rather close to its port. It took her no longer than five minutes of strolling for her to arrive at its front yard. Looking at the building, Sabrina could definitely feel everything about Surge being imbued onto the construct. Signs of lightning everywhere, an extremely rigid writing of his own name being imprinted onto the side, and an unintentionally flamboyant style of decoration of old military… stuffs made everything rather dull and pretentious. Sabrina called what was in front of her military stuffs because firstly, she could not careless what they actually were and secondly, the fact that Surge kept yapping about it every time she was here just made her not want to know of them more, or else Surge could take that as a sign that suggested she might actually have been paying attention to what he said.

"Surge…" She knocked on the gym door. She expected it to be open at this point, since it was an obvious week day, but it was not. She did not care too much as for why, since Surge was never one that was punctual. Perhaps he was just asleep inside of there, since it was only seven in the morning. For whatever reason she could not fathom, the man actually slept in his own gym, filled with boxers' sweats and putrid smells that had been there ever since who-knows-when. That was also one of the many reasons why she never wanted to go back to this place again. "It's me Sabrina."

"Sabrina!" Surprisingly, Surge was already up at that point. It seemed that he was expecting her, which did not come as too unusual, since she did tell him that she would be here this morning and he knew the S.S. Anne's schedule like the back of his hand. However, she was not counting on him being on time, not even once. "Come in!"

"You are starting to make me feel uncomfortable Surge." Sabrina narrowed her eyes as she stepped into his gym. To her bemusement, it was actually cleaned. As good as that must have been, it also meant that he was preparing to meet her today, which only raised a red flag concerning his intentions. Finding a place to sit was rather inconvenient for her though, as she did not want to really touch anything that he had been using recently. After a while, she had no choice but to settle down at a far side of a couch, something that she hoped was too civilized for him to use. "So, let's get this thing out of my hair fast."

"I would not have it any other way." Surge, with a smile on his face, approached the sofa and sat down next to her. It was painfully obvious how it annoyed her, but he was not backing down. Sabrina was not feeling too great about this meeting at all, but she had to be patient, if just this once. "So, to get straight to the point, we have crowned a new champion recently."

"Is that so?" Sabrina was admittedly surprised. It was a good thing that at least Surge's military past did something good to him for once, and that was teaching him to not beat around the bushes, most of the time. "What is the League's say?"

"They want us to have a meeting, all the gym leaders." Surge shrugged as he continued explaining. If this encounter would stay like this, Sabrina would appreciate it.

"For what purpose?" She did not see much of a point considering how things were. It was not like this was the first time there was a champion during her time as gym leader. Why they suddenly had to arrange a meeting was beyond her. "What does it have to do with me?"

"Well, a complication arose." Surge conceded his expression. No one was used to seeing him like that, but Sabrina did not care too much. "You should know the new champion as a kid named Red."

"Red…" Sabrina's fist tightened. Of course she remembered him. After the last 9 months of preparation for the Pokémon League, only him and Green were able to snatch the badge from her gym rightfully. Green showed more potential at that point, but Red was different. He was just… out there. She could not really read him as well as she wanted to, as if there was just something so cut off about the kid, and it bothered her even now. "Yeah, I know him. What about him?"

"He refused to take the position as one of the next Elite Fours." Surge stated coldly. Sabrina nodded, not sure of what to make of that news. It was certainly understandable how one would be concerned about that. Rumors could go around on how the Kanto Pokémon League could not keep hold of its most prestigious contestants to date. She could see the flares sparked from something like that, definitely. The League had already made a huge and controversial breakthrough of not always keeping the champion, unlike the other regions, and something like this could push public opinions over the edge. "It would have been fine too, if Lance did not set his sight to quit the Elite Four."

"Is that so?" That was always a bit of news that could stir up trouble. Sabrina understood that, and she definitely did not want her day job to be interfered by some random chain of events that might threaten what she had now. "Why is that?"

"He was apparently concerned of his own strength, having lost to two trainers in a row." Sabrina raised an eyebrow at that, as if she was not following what Surge had been saying. He quickly patched up his explanations. "Oh yeah, Green was actually the first one to beat the Elite Four. However, only after a few hours was he beaten by Red and was basically robbed of his Champion title. Poor kid was devastated and did not turn up ever since, and I've always liked him more."

"I see." Sabrina suspected that was it, since Surge had stopped talking. Concerning the meeting, she would probably not enjoy it. New bloods were going to be there, and she hated strangers, most of them anyways. There were not so many people that she actually did not hate every time a League meeting was conducted. "I understand. So can I go now?"

"There is… one other thing I wish to talk to you about, Sabrina." Surge hesitated before saying that, but he was still on the sofa, and the female psychic did not like it at all. She was feeling extremely uncomfortable as it is. He then made a confused smile, which did not go too well with his conversation partner. "It's kind of personal."

"Really…" Sabrina was definitely uninterested. Anything that he had to say at this point would not matter to her the slightest bit. She was only still sitting there because of proper manners that were forced down her throat once she was a kid. Despite how he hated to admit it, she was never really able to get herself away from attending to such a thing. "Whatever it is, I must say it's boring me."

"Fine, here goes." Surge, as funny as it looked, sucked up a large breathe and went with his guts. "You know how we have known together for such a long time, right? I mean I was with you when you were much younger, and it was way before the war too. Now, after all this time, since you've become such a wonderful young woman, I'd like to ask you out."

"You're not serious…" Sabrina did not actually expect this. She had always suspected that Surge had some kind of unnerving affection towards her, but she had truly never expected something like this. The worst part was: it was actually getting to her. Not because that she had any feelings for him, no, but because she was afraid that he would never let this go.

"I am. Why wouldn't you believe me?" Surge seemed hurt by her words. Sabrina rolled her eyes, as to express exactly how she felt. He had prepared and cleaned up everything for her arrival and anything. Surely she must have seen how caring he was.

"Maybe because you're a huge prick." Sabrina grunted. She was definitely not appreciating this conversation. It did not matter how she seemed about this matter, there was absolutely no way she could get with a guy like Surge.

"That was one time, and it was not even anything romantic!" Surge tried his best to explain himself. It was pathetic, in Sabrina's opinion, how he probably thought that he was not at fault when it happened. He had failed her badly once, and her view of him changed drastically after that point, and it had only worsened since.

"I'm a lesbian you numbskull, is that so hard for you to get?" Sabrina was ready to blow up on him, but she held herself. He was not worth it, she conceded. Instead, she simply stood up and motioned herself towards the door. "I won't have any part of this."

"Sabrina!" Surge grabbed her hand rather forcefully. She almost screamed. The last thing she wanted was to get physical, but the ex-marine in front of her was probably too much of an idiot to be able to realize that. He had never really been able to pull himself out of his apparent fantasy, and she saw no hope in him. "Don't say that, you just haven't been able to find the right man. I can..."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." She slapped his hand of her arm. At least she was decent enough to let go after that. "Look, lieutenant, I know you have your Voltorbs and Magnemites here, but unlike those Pokémons, your real balls aren't actually made of steel, and it would prove beneficial to everyone the sooner you realize that. If you dare speak of this to me again, I would have to prove that to you, do you understand me?"

"Sabrina…"

"Do you god damn understand me?" Sabrina finally cracked. She had already run out of patient for this man, and was not afraid of proving her point if it came down to it.

"Fine…" Surge huffed. He was not about to call her bluff on that. Knowing her for so long, he was rather aware of just what she was capable of. He was not about to give up though, not by a long shot.

"Glad we reached an agreement."

Sabrina was angry at everything at that point. Not only did that meeting took precious time off her schedule, Surge's little Casanova act did not help lift her mood either. Walking back to the ship, she wondered if she should just go home, or maybe some resting time on the cruise would do her some good. After a moment of self-deliberating, she decided that it was probably best for her to stay upon the ship for a few more days. She did not need any more problems to come her way after all. The ship's horn rang as the S.S. Anne departed.

"Next stop: Celadon city."


	3. A night like this

**I don't think there's much else to say at this point, so enjoy the story.**

I'm not doing anymore disclaimers by the way.

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_Chapter 2: A night like this_

"So Celadon… I wonder how Erika has been doing."

Sabrina murmured to herself as the ship finally parted with its original port. She had been trying to get what happened with Surge out of her mind, and it had not really been all that successful. She was not sure what to do with the man. It is true that they had known each other for a long time, but that was just it. She was 2 for god sake, and he was 18 at the time. She did not mean to make him out like a pedophile, because god helped her that would have scarred her childhood forever. He was a fresh recruit in military school at the time, an underclassman of her father's. It was certainly not bad, how he was at the time. He was still full of energy, life and determination, and he was definitely ready for the world at that point. She met him when he was introduced to the family, by her father of course. Surge was a strange sight at that point, considering how she did not get to meet much of other people by then, and she had taken extreme interest in him. That was all for the past of course, since she was a toddler back then. If her mother had given her two sticks of chewing gum she is sure she would have been extremely interested in that too.

Sabrina suddenly flinched, to find that she had been lost in thoughts all this time. Her back was against the wall of her own room, instead of what she was supposed to do: meditating. She sighed, trying to shake away of her memories. It did work a little, enough for her to be able to concentrate again. It was unexpectedly harder for her to gather her thoughts up into a point of vanquish, which should be required for meditating. She scoffed, as it was obviously annoying her. She had been trying to stop thinking about Surge, but it did not work at all. It was bothering her immensely, considering how much she hated the man, even now more so. The only reason he still thought the two of them were still close was because of her mother always reassuring him that she was actually much sweeter than what her cynical exterior might suggest.

She grunted at that. Admittedly Sabrina was getting worked up with herself while she was in the room alone, which she could not stand. There was simply no reason for her to feel so uncomfortable about this. She was 22 already, and she was definitely able to handle herself. However, a part of her had to concede to the fact that she had definitely felt scared when Surge suddenly grabbed her hand from back then. He did not do anything out of spite, but that might not be the case every time. If she knew him at all, she knew that he hated giving up as much as she hated him. She did not expect him to let this go at all, and she might have to prepare for when he might show up next time. It was risky for her to have gone all this way without any of her Pokémon, and she cursed at herself for that. Even though she was a psychic, she tried to steer away from reading people's minds most of the time, considering how littered with trashy thoughts and incoherent intentions they usually were. She did not try to read Surge's mind either, even though someone simple as him would have been easy to read through, but that was exactly the point. He was always straightforward with his thoughts, making trying to read his mind a waste of energy. She made a mental note of preparing herself from now on, always keep her Pokémon with her at all times.

"We have arrived at Celadon and will stay here for the next two hours. Passengers who wish to make quick trips and visits are advised to leave immediately."

Sabrina snapped out of her trance after hearing that. She sighed, noting that she had been taken away from her thoughts for the last few hours. Since the ship was now at Celadon, Sabrina wondered whether she should stop and go on land for a while. Erika would probably be in her gym at this point, and Sabrina wanted to see her friend. Strange enough, Erika was one of the few persons that Sabrina could have called a friend, despite them not talking that much. It was simple, really. Erika recognizes Sabrina as a cynical person that usually does not want to be disturbed but appreciate the company most of the time, while Sabrina recognizes Erika as an overly nice person that actually has a lot of issues concerning trusts and personal life. Of course, Sabrina had read Erika's mind to know her secrets, but Erika was able to figure Sabrina out on her own, which to the female psychic was actually quite impressive, considering the cold face that Sabrina put on every time the two of them met over a meeting or similar events.

"Never mind that."

Sabrina gave up the idea of going ashore. Despite the fact that she could have gone to the Pokémon Center to pick up her Pokémon, or go visit Erika, she just did not feel like it. She had no intention of drawing her friend into something like this, and going ashore would just make Sabrina want to meet the botanist even more. So, to stay on the safe side, she decided to not go anywhere and tried to go on with meditating. It did work, so she really had no problem with that. Rather, she was somewhat concerned with when she would want to get back. The ship would be going around the ports a few times and would probably only land back and Saffron when the weekend comes. Sabrina admitted that she might not have thought this quite through. Of course the ship can turn around to make the drop, but since its being an expensive had a lot to do with the fact that she had to pay them in order to make that happen. Whether it was worth it or not, she really did not know, and she did not want to know.

She was supposed to be meditating after all.

Sabrina sighed, seeing how it was an hour after the ship had taken its anchor and left Celadon's port. She completely missed the destination of which the S.S. Anne was heading at the moment, but she really did not find it in her to care. After all, this was supposed to be a cruise, and she was doing her best to enjoy that fact. Of course, some random distraction popping into her head once every few minutes did not help her case. Now, however, those were a lot less about Surge and how annoying of a man he was, but rather about Erika. Sabrina was becoming self-conscious that she had been thinking of the botanist a rather too much for her own liking. Even though the psychic considered her co-worker a friend, she must admit that the two of them never actually did have much of a civilized conversation. She remembered the last League meeting quite clearly at this point. Memories started gushing into her, causing her to subconsciously made note of a lot of detail. Sabrina lost her cool back then, practically screaming at everyone and heavy curses were flown around at an extensive expense. It was a silly discussion, in her opinion. It happened when Giovanni suddenly disappeared off the face of the Earth, and everyone was either frantically trying to find him or frantically trying to find a replacement for him. Her memories were not clear on how exactly did that kind of topic turned into a screaming match, but she remembered how it ended. At some point, she stormed out of the room to break a random window somewhere. When she came back, she was rather surprised to find that Erika had been defending her opinion, which she found was odd. Using her powers, the psychic had gone as far as checking Erika's thoughts to see whether she had any ulterior motives, but found none. As far as she was concerned, Erika had no obligation to do her any favors, yet she did anyways. It made an impression on Sabrina at the very least.

She smiled rather sheepishly. That was when she started to realize that Erika was rather different from all of the other members, who had been either completely clueless or filled with their own plans. Sabrina did appreciate having someone standing up to her, and especially if that someone was actually as innocent as she sounded. Well, of course, that had something to do with the rumors.

Sabrina took a moment to note what she had heard about Erika after that point. There was seemingly an undying opinion on the internet that the botanist was totally gay. Apparently they had some very interesting photos of the Celadon gym leader being "overly concerned" for her female gym members. Honestly, Sabrina suspected that the conclusion was drawn from the fact that the gym itself was full of flowers and rainbows, and had never seen any trace of male working any kind of job there. Of course, that excluded those perverts that occasionally can be seen peeking over the far window, or the tabloids with their cameras in hand, ready to take pictures as soon as Erika was found out having some kind of relationship with any girls in that gym. It did not even work though, Sabrina worked. Not once was there a confirmed and/or legitimate source of information concerning Erika's sexual orientation. As far as the psychic knew, her friend could be gay, or hell bent straight and it would not make much of a different. Sabrina was pretty conscious of her own, so there was apparent problem with thinking of what her friend might have been.

The female psychic herself had gotten quite a lot of rumors, considering how she could read people's mind and find out what they were thinking about her. Almost everyone she had met, Surge being one of the more glaringly exceptions, thinks that she was most likely asexual. She had to hand it to them that it was a very likely scenario, considering how she never actually showed any kind of interest in anyone at all. Surge was not going to believe that, even though everyone that knew about how close they were would definitely tell Surge to back the hell off. In their opinion, Sabrina may or may not be asexual, but there was definitely no way Surge was going to have the slightest of things to do with that.

Sabrina smiled to herself; at least she was not standing out that much. She would have hated that. Looking at her watch, she took notice that it was almost dinner time already. The night was approaching rapidly as it had already been more than four hours when the ship had left Celadon. She decided that she would go up to the upper deck and get herself some night air first, as she hoped that it would clear her mind.

She wasted no time in doing so. Only there was a bit of a problem: someone else was there. Sabrina did not like to make a fuss, since at least the other person had the decency to not hog up all of the best spot for himself (?). Sabrina pulled up a longue chair of her own and settled down. She had planned to have this time to herself.

"Hello?" Sabrina knew well that the other person was trying to stir up a conversation with her. She could have cared less though. She figured that if she would just stay quiet long enough, he or she would just get the idea and be quiet. Although that voice was just a tad bit familiar, Sabrina noticed. "Sabrina?"

Sabrina tilted her head to be able to take a better look at whomever it was that apparently knew her name. It was a funny thing too, because obviously judging by the voice that person was a woman, and she was sure she had no appointments with any at this moment. After a few silent moments, the psychic was able to recognize who it was.

"Erika, it has been a while." Sabrina smiled at the uncanny coincidence. There she was only a few hours ago, torn between whether to go up to dry land and meet this woman or not. How ironic that she was here the whole time in between.

"It really has." Erika appeared to be excited as well. "I was actually looking for you!"

"How so?" Sabrina craned an eyebrow. Usually people would just stay away from her, if it weren't for something important.

"A new champion has been crowned." Erika stated. Sabrina at this point had already understood what the botanist was trying to say. It was apparently exactly what Surge was supposed to tell her. She could not help but look bored, which apparently bothered Erika. "We are to gather up in a meeting three days from now, at the Indigo Plateau. I was assigned to inform you."

"I'm not going." Sabrina stated coldly, which earned her a surprised gasp. The psychic did not understand exactly what she did to deserve such an action. She was sure that the image she had been putting up for the last few years being in the League would make people get the fact that most of the time she just did not care. "Don't be like that. You know I really hate that kind of occasions."

"But you have never refused to go to one before!" Erika couldn't help but protest. Sabrina did not seem to take it to heart though. She was not about to have to go out of her way to explain herself. She was a consenting adult after all.

"Well, I can't take it anymore." Sabrina shrugged. She had no mind to argue at the moment, although if it came she would be hard-pressed to suppress it. "I won't go anymore. It is not like my being there ever mattered to anyone. People would just go ahead and decide without me anyways."

"That's not true!" Erika couldn't help but retorted. Sabrina seemed rather surprise at that notion. Erika certainly would be a strong and capable person, but Sabrina never really expected her friend to act out like that. It was starting to get on her nerves. "You... I..."

"ERIKA!" Sabrina's sudden action silenced the female botanist. "Just, stop, please? I'm not here to fight anyone."

"But…" Erika simply could not finish her sentence this time around. The large ship's phone echoed through their ears, ending any hopes of a comeback for the botanist:

"Passengers, please help yourselves to the dining hall to enjoy our luxurious dinner. Our theme tonight is: Couple's night."

"Do you wanna come?" Sabrina extended her hand towards Erika, earning her a confused look from the short-haired woman. Sabrina felt that it was rather funny of her friend to react like that. She was definitely not as open about relationships as the psychic. "Don't look at me like that. You're coming too, obviously. Why not just go together?"

"Oh, yes, most definitely." Sabrina smiled at that. She really did not have many intentions in mind when she casually invited her friend like that, but she was a bit afraid of Erika backing away if she picked up something that she was not comfortable with. Erika took psychic's hand, stepped off the chair and walked with Sabrina towards the lower floor, where the dining hall was located. Their hands never broke apart; however, which Sabrina was rather content with. It appeared to her that Erika was comfortable with how things between them were as she was.

It was not long before they reached their destination. The room was a lacking one, so it was not hard to find a table to their likings.

"What would we be serving you ladies today?" The waiter, apparently trying his best to acquire a French accent, came over to them and said. "May we suggest the couple's deal; it is our special for the night."

"Oh, but we're... not a couple." Erika smiled awkwardly, trying to stop the waiter from getting the wrong idea. However, it didn't fly that well.

"We would have the special, please." Sabrina ended the conversation with about the most pretentious smile Erika has ever seen her mutter. The waiter had not the slightest idea, though. He simply took off, leaving the two women alone.

"Why did you..." Erika inquired, but was cut off once again.

"Simply because that would save us both some money, and there are simply no reason not to." Sabrina's smile turned genuine over the course of the conversation. "Is it really that bad?"

"No, I guess not." Erika smiled in return. Sabrina was happy that her friend did not feel weird about it. She certainly did not mean to. "So, why are you here Sabrina?"

"Surge called me." Sabrina answered bluntly. It was a bit amusing how Erika reacted with a crestfallen reaction.

"Why?"

"He wanted to ask me out."

"Oh..." Sabrina, without even the slightest need to read the botanist's mind, was sure that her friend was disappointed hearing that. Perhaps, Erika was different than what Sabrina had imagined her to be at first. "So did you accept?"

"Are you crazy? Of course I didn't!" Sabrina forcefully retorted. Her flustered reaction caused a smile to creep on to Erika's face, without the botanist even knowing it. Sabrina herself also did not quite know why her reaction was so harsh. "What are you so happy about?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Erika controlled herself and settled down. Sabrina was definitely taking a notice of that. "Why didn't you though?"

"Why would I? I barely know the guy!" Sabrina couldn't understand what Erika was thinking even considering it. Well, to be fair, not many people knew that she was actually homosexual. It was one of those topics that were never really brought up. However, she did not want to talk much about her past with Surge, so she would rather just use the easiest of explanations. "I'm not even interested in men."

"What?" Erika could not help but flinch at that notion. Sabrina did take that as her friend was definitely surprised.

"You didn't know, did you?" The female psychic seemed rather nonchalant towards her friend's reaction. It was to be understood, she thought. "No one ever asked, so I never did tell. Surge knows though, he used to be my close friend when we were younger, although he's like 12 years older than me. The damn guy, military man type, thinks homosexuality doesn't mean shit."

"Sabrina..." Erika spoke calmly. Sabrina was not sure what to make of that behavior, considering that she had just used quite the strong language. "Did you ever...?"

"What are you getting at?" Sabrina crossed her arms and huffed. Erika could be getting at a lot of things with that question, and the psychic did not like it.

"Well I mean: have you ever dated before?" Sabrina sighed, thinking how she was silly having suspected Erika having ulterior motives. She took her time to swallow that thought, not catching quite clearly what was happening at the time.

"Not really, I was aware, but I was just socially introverted." The female psychic shrugged. There was little she knew about dating a girl, if that what her friend wanted to ask. "Have you?"

"Eh?" Erika seemed to be taken aback by that. "What do you mean?"

"Really, you never noticed?" Sabrina seemed a bit surprised as well to see Erika shaking her head rather profusely. "Well, since you're usually with your girls inside the gym, rumors have been going around for quite a while."

"I honestly have no idea." Erika made a hand gesture of swearing honor. It amused her friend to no end. "What?"

"Well, I'm sorry." Sabrina could not help but chuckle. "You just seem kind of defensive about it."

"I don't mean anything. I just honestly never noticed."

Their conversation was cut off as the waiter returned with the order. It was something quite peculiar, at least that was the vibe being given. Moments later, their course was handed down on the table, pretty much everything you would expect for a romantic dinner.

"Would you like some fine wine?" The waiter asked.

"Yes please, her too." Sabrina held up her cup with a hint of flare in her eyes. She was not sure whether Erika drinks or not, but she was sure that her friend would just accept that nonetheless. It was a polite gesture, the least she could do.

"Is there anything else, ladies?"

"That would be all, thank you."

With that, the waiter left the two to be alone once again, which they appreciated. The meal was rather huge for their apatite, so they made a note to no try and act otherwise. The continuation was rather quiet though, as both of the women preferred to dine in silence. Of course, things were bound to change. Sabrina did not exactly hold back in her drinking at all. She was not much of a drinker, but at least she was confident that a few glasses would not get her tipsy. That was, however, before she discovered just how fine a wine she had been drinking was. It was getting her hot, despite her not exactly wanting to.

"You should have this. It's really good." Sabrina felt the urge to offer her friend the drink.

"Maybe later." Erika did exactly Sabrina expected her to do.

"I would hold you up on that."

Soon, the two of them felt like no longer pushing themselves to eat anymore. Sabrina handled the check, which Erika didn't feel like stopping. It felt like the right thing to do at the time for the female psychic.

"Come to my room, I have my wallet with me there." Sabrina did nothing but comply. There was little she could think at this point. Of course, her hands still held the wine bottle they had earlier. After the two made it to Erika's quarters, Sabrina found herself looking for the glasses within the room, ignoring what the other female was doing altogether. While Erika was trying to find the cash she brought, Sabrina was serving herself some more wine.

"Here, my share." Erika has finally reached her wallet, but turned around to find her friend quite less than sober. "Sabrina, you're drunk already."

"So?" Tipping herself under glass, Sabrina approached her friend, even though her motions weren't quite coherent. "You promised you'd have a drink when we get here, remember?"

"Well, I do, but..."

"But what? Are you going to walk out on a promise?" Sabrina was now sporting a wicked smile on her face, much different than her usual demeanor. "Come on~"

"Fine." Erika huffed, which Sabrina thought was cute. A wicked smile crept onto her face. "Give it to me."

Sabrina had a spark of idea in her mind. It was not quite clear of what she was getting at, but she would do it anyways. She tipped off the glass of wine into her mouth, but not quite drinking it up. Instead, she approached Erika, which caused the botanist to flinch slightly, but did not move. Sabrina grabbed her friend by the neck and pulled their lips together. Using her tongue, she forcefully pried Erika's weak resistance wide open and poured the flowing liquid into its intended destination. A full minute later, Sabrina pulled away, feeling pleased with her plan working out so perfectly.

"How was it?" She licked her lips slightly, smiling. She saw Erika standing there in disbelief, making what seemed to be an innocent that Sabrina thought was simply too cute. The alcohol was getting her down though, as she found it harder to move. "I told you this wine were good."

That was all she could get into her head, though, as she blacked out soon after, leaving her distressed friend in frantic.


	4. Voodoo

**So here I am. I got stuck with chapter 3 somewhere and can't seem to find a way to move forward, but I do believe that problem is behind me now. I am also experimenting something new with this series, rather than the type of events that I usually depict in my original fictions. Prepare yourself, if you have not already, for me pushing the T border, even if it is just a little bit.**

* * *

_Chapter 3: Voodoo_

"God…" Sabrina pouted as she felt her head aching like mad. Her eyes still closed, she reached over to her temples. It never actually did help anyone with their headaches, but it was just something people usually do. She did not care too much about that though, since her consciousness was still a bit hazy, considering all the alcohol she had last night. There was something off with her memories, but it was hard for her to make out what might have happened last night. She only remembered drinking, getting drunk and… "Erika?"

Opening her eyes rather slowly, Sabrina found out that she was put onto the bed at some point. Her arms stretched around to make sure that she was alone on it. Fortunately, she was. Even though what happened last night really had not make its impact on her memories yet, Sabrina really did not feel like dealing with any more complications. She got up half way, eyes closed down to deal with the hangover.

"Ugh…." A whimper echoed across the silent room, which caught Sabrina's attention. Trying her best to ignore the pounding in her head, she once again pried open her clamped shut eyes and stare at the direction where the sound was coming from. To her surprise, it took her to the nearby couch, where her friend Erika was lying on, seemingly asleep and dreaming of something. The botanist had been holding a pillow that was supposed to support her head and was breathing quite heavily. Sabrina was not sure what to make of that. Getting off the bed, she approached her friend, noticing how Erika's face looked red and flustered, even though she wasn't even awake. The psychic was not sure of what to do at this point, so she decided just to wait it out. "Sabrina…"

Her eyes were wide open after that. It seemed that the sleeping beauty had been dreaming about her friend, which Sabrina thought was somewhat odd. From the look on the slumbering's face, she was not positive on what kind of dream it was showing. Suddenly, a fresh piece of the past rushed into her mind, as she was reminded of what happened last night, behind closed doors, before she passed out.

"Oh god…" The psychic was getting a bit worried afterwards. Having remembered the two's little drinking, not drunken, play last night; she could rather guess what her friend was dreaming about. However, in order to be sure, she would have to plunge herself into the depths of Erika's dream to see for herself. It was not something she usually did, nor was it marginally difficult at any point in her past, but Sabrina did feel a bit guilty in doing this. Of course, the headache she was still experiencing did not help her concentrate on the matter much, but she was able to do it anyways. Sabrina sat down on the floor next to her couch, her hand gripping Erika's. She could feel her consciousness fades, as she knew she would soon stumble upon the botanist's most private moments.

It did not take long for Sabrina's own mind to manifest itself within the boundaries of Erika's dream world. However, since neither of them was awake the dream itself could change at any moment. Knowing this, Sabrina knew that she had to make sure that the Erika within the dream would not recognize her or the dream itself might end abruptly, nullifying the whole point. That was the least of her worries at the moment, though. Her surroundings were anything but easy to navigate through. A confined space, it was, which marginally surprised Sabrina. She did not really expect this kind of closed setting on anything but a nightmare, and the thought of her being in her friend's worst dreams did not really cheer her up by any stretch of imagination. Still she pressed on. There was only a single path, surrounded by arrays of grown trees, as far and as tall as the eye can see. Her eyesight narrowed onto her apparent destination at the far end. It was bright, and hard to deduct. It was slightly bothering her that, even though she was among the tall shrubs, it still felt like a confined place. Taking a close look at the "sky", it seemed as infinite as ever. However, she could just feel its limit, by the boundaries of her own power. Shrugging, Sabrina decided that it was against her best interest to ponder at a place like this. For all she knew, Erika could wake up at any moment, and even the female psychic herself would not have known the exact position of which she fell asleep. It could startle her friend, or worse yet, create some catastrophic loop hole in her subconscious. Sabrina moved forward to end her thoughts. As she casually strolled into the unknown destination, the view of the proximity around her alters gradually as well. The trees, if she ever knew possible, flourished even further, as bouquets of the most exotic of flowers appear on their branches. People would take this as a beautiful sight. She would too, if she actually cared at that moment. Being in the dream world, Sabrina held no concept of time. However, it must have taken a while, at least it would qualify as so, for her to finally reach something she could see. The path she was taking closed off rather abruptly, in front of a door. Her ear against it, she could tell that there were not much of any noises in there. As careful as she was though, Sabrina only faintly placed her hand on the door handle, steadily twisting it, trying to be as silent as possible. As the door partly opened, Sabrina could take a better look at the scene inside. It was unnervingly familiar.

There she was, Sabrina herself, at least her natural manifestation within Erika's dreams, lying down on the couch. The real Sabrina could instantly recognize the locale of where this dream acquired place. There was not the slightest different between the room of which its door was just opened compared to the room her conscious body would have been in right now. It was, by all means, Erika's room on the boat, only within her dreams. The dream Sabrina was there, still unspoken and at rest. Erika herself was there as there, sitting next to her friend's sleeping self. Her eyes seemed unfocused, but her smile was evident. She seemed rather content, considering how Sabrina had previously thought this was a nightmare. Feasibly, the botanist could have just had a different sleeping pattern than those which the psychic usually encounters. Sabrina, however, felt like there was something amiss. The scene appears to be blissful, but it was still set in a confined space, making her as uncomfortable as ever. Without warning, the place blurred. It staggered her, forcing her to keep her focus in order to make out. She could see Erika sitting still, but with tears dripping from her eye sockets. Those were not tears of joy, she could easily tell.

"Sabrina." Erika hung her head coldly, let out a tone of distress that was the same as what Sabrina has heard before she went into the dream world. She could not have yet figured out the cause for such angst, however, since everything still appears to be normal. Could it be that Erika was envisioning what happened last night and regretting it? That would certainly be a possibility, Sabrina thought, although she did not want such a thing to be reality. It took her a certain time within this distorted world to realize what had been missing from her perspective all this time. Her sight set upon her dreamy self, still there, perfectly still. The Sabrina there was not moving the slightest of bits. She was not even breathing.

Sabrina snapped out of her psychic state at that point. She felt sick. As far as she knew, she was dead within her friend's dream. That would explain the moody end of the bright tree tunnel, and the ever present coffin shut in extent of the distraught reverie. At least Erika did not see her there, alive. It might have helped a bit, the psychic admitted. However, she could not live with that mental image any longer.

"Erika…" Her hands started applying force onto the form of the woman sleeping next to her. It did not seem to be helping, which only increased the anxiety within her awareness. She was, by every meaning of the word, worried of her friend. "Wake up…."

"Hm?" It took a while, but the botanist was at last freed from her dream state. Sabrina sighed off her worries, as it had been taking a toll on her regardless of how insignificant it seemed. She could not explain it, but she was at least pleased to see her friend up and all right. "Sabrina?"

"Yeah, it's me." She did not quite know what to say after that experience. It certainly made her question the point of her trip in the first place. It was originally intended to help her investigate what was bothering her friend so much within that insentient realm. However, it only helped making her feel extremely conscious about what she had seen. "How are you feeling?"

"Not that well, but I blame it on the booze." Erika, surprisingly, seemed rather fair with whatever she experience, or she simply had forgotten it. Either way, it struck Sabrina a bit. For such a thing to happen, the existence of the dream, or at least that half-conscious state, must be customary enough to make Erika not out right disturbed by such visions. The psychic pondered. Perhaps there was a lot more to her friend's psychological depth that she might have imagined. Someone like Surge was blunt and easy to read, too boring for her to pay any mind to. Erika, however, had a deeper side of her that seemed completely off to the people around, perhaps even to herself. It was such an exhilarating idea to Sabrina at the time. Regardless of the recent ominous hallucination that she had just witnessed, there was a lot of secrets that she were simply dying to find out. "How are you feeling? You passed out last night and I had to carry you to the bed."

"Thank you for that, Erika." Sabrina smiled, as to not express any of her thoughts accidentally. For all she knew, Erika actually seemed rather cheerful to see that, which settled for both of them. Still, there was a rather sensitive matter that they must tackle first before everything could be brushed off as said and done. "Hey, last night, do you remember… you know, when I… just came back here, drunk?"

"Oh?" That particularly memory was not in Erika's mind at the time brought about her search for it. When that piece of timeline cleared itself to her though, a rather expected reaction took place. Her cheeks became rather flushed, and her hands started to agitate. Her eyes drifted off to Sabrina, confirming that her friend was perfectly clear of what happened as well. The psychic herself seemed aware of that, but she ceased any of her actions, waiting to bring out the answer from the botanist herself. "I… yes, I do."

"I see." Sabrina smiled, which startled her friend. Erika had already gotten herself straight on the couch at the time, and was rather having a mindful of what was going on around her. She obviously noticed Sabrina settling herself next to her, those deep magenta-eyes staring straight into her own, forcing out an honest answer. "Admittedly it was an act I committed while I was under the influence. My apologies, I truly did not suspect such an undesirable results."

"Oh… ok." Erika awkwardly brushed it off. However, she was rather aware of how such an action might have been detrimental to her own good. Sabrina seemed even more determined at this point, which was something the botanist had been afraid of. "What are you…?"

"Erika…" The depth of the psychic's eyes was positively irresistible, as the botanist quickly realized. She was drawn in, slowly, to the sensual lids, the endearing features and even the voluptuous lips speaking every word. "Tell me the truth, what did you think of it?"

"I…" Erika was completely at a loss for words. She felt it hard to contemplate the situation, when her observation suddenly was all on the physical traits of her conversation partner. Gulping, as if to calm down her nerves, Erika sucked up a deep breathe, and answered. "I… didn't hate it."

"I'm glad." Sabrina was, or was not; conscious of the seductive effect of her actions on her friend, but her mind was set on something else. To her, her friend seemed like a true spectacle that warranted investigating in. She would be a very unique subject; one Sabrina was never been able to chance upon within her years of studies of the psychical arts. She was set onto discovering it. Erika, however, was completely unaware of what was going on inside the thoughts of her friend, and she became rather flustered, uncomfortable with being focused on for so long.

"So…" Erika was rather indecisive on what she wanted to say. Her sudden influx in emotions the past few days did not help her cause. She was not completely oblivious of her feelings, or the apparent consequence of Sabrina's gaze. She was, however, absolutely clueless on figuring out what those were by herself, and she was simply too embarrassed to speak about it with Sabrina directly. After a period of extensive silence, Erika continued. "Where are you going after this?"

"Hm… I would go back to the gym, if nothing else comes up." It was a truthful answer. It had been the psychic's plan from the start. There might also be the problem of the League meeting coming up soon, but Sabrina had already made up her mind about not attending it, so it should not matter too much. What was important to her at the moment was rare fascination that she had recently found in Erika. It was almost… charming. "Would you care to join me?"

"Me?" Erika was astounded by such a proposal. Certainly, she did not expect much of anything from her friend at the previous point. She was already too mortified to mutter out coherent sentences, but what would she say to this. Erika gaped away, trying her best to escape Sabrina's stare. However, she found herself getting back into it more often than not. It was only a matter of time before she cracked. "I… think that would be fine."

"Wonderful…" Sabrina nodded to concord. She was already planning on how to get the two of them in private to conduct her research. Such an intriguing subject could not go to waste, after all. Fortunately, the stretch of water that the S.S. Anne covered within the weekdays is rather negligible, as most of the stops were for ease of simple transportation and commercialized meetings. It only took around two days for it to go a full circle, so the current morning was when the ship was scheduled to make its way back to Saffron city, w here Sabrina's gym resided. "The vessel would reach its destination soon; you should ready your belongings before getting off, of course. It would be going back to my own room, in order make preparation for port as well. I would come back here before then though, so please don't leave before I do."

"Ah, yes, understood." Nodding, Erika was already acting within the near prediction of the psychic. Sabrina, however, did not take the gaze following her as she left the room too seriously. She was definitely not dense, but put it off as Erika's experimental phase. Though she did not know much about her friend, considering how easily flustered the botanist was, she would put Erika into the category of lack of affectionate segments and be done with it. She had not been back in her room for a while, and so Sabrina made her way to the foyer instead. Unbeknownst to Erika, the psychic came here without any luggage at all. She was a frequent on the ship, or at least that was what she wanted to be, so she knew that she did not need much to board. People knew her; after all, not even a pass was needed. It also helped that Surge had basically given her a permanently room on the most luxurious ship around, although she did not like having owed the man anything at all.

"Sabrina, it's always a pleasure to meet you." She lifted her expression a bit, enough to make it seemed genuinely appreciative, to return the greeting of the woman approaching her. Her name is Penny, mattered not how thirty or forty something she appeared to be. Sabrina did not like Penny, not the slightest bit. She was just so annoying, at least to the psychic. "I heard you boarded the ships two days ago, but I haven't seen you at all."

"I don't go out of my room much." Sabrina coldly answered. She had hoped not to run into the woman at all, in all honesty. The last time they met, it took every fiber of her being not to rip the skin off her conversation partner. It was strange, considering how close they used to be. The lack of motivation within the psychic's words obviously had an impact on how the woman viewed their current mood. "Do you never leave?"

"Aw, you know I love the high seas." Penny practically hugged Sabrina from behind, her face rubbing against the psychic's. It was a way to express love, or at least that was the excuse she had always went with. Sabrina, obviously, despised such an act. If anyone else would have been doing this, she would have no hesitation to hit that person somewhere deep and hurtful. However, she could not do so to Penny. "Oh come on Sabrina, don't be like that. Aren't you happy to meet your own mom?"

"Not at all…" Sabrina sighed. She should have expected to meet her mother somewhere like this. She had always been trying to get on her nerves, about who knew how many things. When she was little, she enjoyed the attention, sure. She was well over twenty now, though. She was a gym leader, yet her mother still treated her much like a child. Well, in every way except one. "Would you just let go of me?"

"Grumpy…" Penny pouted. She was very much like she was when her daughter was born. Raising Sabrina had been an easy task, one not many parents could claim, especially when her husband was mostly overseas, being the military man that he was. He had always blamed her that their daughter clearly did not like the army because of Penny's influence, but she did not care at the very least. The woman was not someone who needed a man in her life to support her, after all. "So honey, did you find any cute girl you want to date yet?"

"Mother!" Penny stuck her tongue out when she heard Sabrina's grunt. She knew very well that asking about Sabrina's love life would easily agitate the female psychic, but she did not care much. It was funny, and it was one of the few ways she could get her daughter to be truly honest. Being the psychic that she was, it was extremely hard for her to crack through that ever so daunting expression Sabrina always put up. "I would appreciate it if you did not go snooping into my private life."

"Hey, I deserve to know too." Penny circled around Sabrina, as she pinched her daughter's nose slightly, causing her to retract. Penny chuckled at that reaction, and it was obvious that Sabrina did not like it one bit. She knew that her daughter must also have a lot of patience to be able to deal with her being like this, but she could not help it. "Don't you remember how hard it was to get your dad to understand what you meant when you said you were coming out?"

"Yes, I remember." Sabrina could not argue that point. She was at the very least open to her family. However, her dad, being the stubborn and backward man that he was, had trouble even grasping the concept of her daughter being a homosexual, or that homosexual was not actually a disease one would pick up somewhere. Her mother was the one who was able to finally put it through his skull. He was not happy with it, but Penny did not care either. "On that note, are you sure you're not gay, mom?"

"I'm sure honey, even though the only man in my life was chosen so that I could have a kid." Penny drew her daughter in to give her another affectionate embrace. The people around them were fully aware of their situations, so they did not give the scene much of a thought. Sabrina was at least thankful for that, as she herself knew how deeply her mother cared for her. "You were the best thing that ever happened to me, Sabrina, not your old man."

"I guess that explained why you didn't even agree to marry the poor sap." Sabrina could finally find something her mother said mutually amusing. It was fun to make fun of her dad. Her parents were never actually married, and her mother made it clear from the very start that she only wanted her dad for a baby, and he was woven into the mess anyways. Sighing contently, Sabrina was grateful for the fact that her mother was being a bit more reasonable today than she usually was, and that was good enough for her. She had some time before the ship make port to Saffron, so Sabrina decided she might as well sit down with her mother to catch up. "I'm leaving when it gets to Saffron, but I have some time before then."

"Splendid! Sit down dear, so I can tell you all about the time I…"


	5. Out on the road

**Now that I've decided to pick up yet ANOTHER series onto my account, it feels as if my time and dedication to this one is being challenged. However, I must say that I would never give up on this, because it deserves the highest of priorities. I might not update as frequent (might, because who's to say?) but I assure you there would be no drop in quality.**

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_Chapter 4: Out on the road_

Sabrina found herself walking with an upbeat mood towards her destination. Her encounter with Penny was surprisingly pleasant, but she would never admit it. Still, not for a moment did she lose sight of her plan. Erika is still here waiting for her, and the ship would soon make Saffron's port. If she did not know any better, she would say this was a rather fitting time to go see what Erika has been up to.

"Hello?" She knocks on the door to a familiar room. Honestly, she has never understood people's notion with knocking. Would not simply calling out the names of the people she was looking for be much more convenient than hoping they'd hear the subtle banging on the door? However, she understood as much that it was at least did for people to act like they're polite, while they might as well just barge right in regardless. Strangely enough, she hears no response. Turning the knob, she finds that the door was actually locked. She did not expect this at all. Have Erika left beforehand? Sabrina was sure that she explicitly told her friend not to. However, she also had to take notice to the fact that Erika herself had no obligation to listen to the psychic at all. "Isn't this just perfect?"

With the lack of anything better to do, Sabrina decided that she should just wait here until Erika comes back. It should not be that long a wait, considering how the ship has almost reached its terminus. That is, if Erika had not already packed up and go out, waiting for the ship to make port. That would definitely annoy Sabrina to no end, and here she thought that they had a mutual understanding. Bored, the psychic leaned her back against the door, looking out to the halls. Her mind was already lost in thoughts, mostly of numerous plans on what to do to get Erika to come back with her should the botanist not turn up at the door. Distracted, she did not quite take notice of the sound of the unbuckling door knob behind her. It was only when she was starting to fall on her back that the falling reality hit her with full force.

"Ouch…" Sabrina could feel that until tomorrow, at least. However, she had little time to note how she was slightly embarrassed after falling over like that; Sabrina was distracted by a more apparent object. Pink, firm, round and amply full, her slight disorientation disabled her from quickly depict what it was that she was looking at. However, it did not take long for her senses to fully recover.

"Kya!" Erika jumped back as soon as she realized what was going on. When she went to open the door, she did not expect her friend to fall back first against her, and definitely no under her dress. Her face was completely flushed, only to Sabrina's slight amusement. "What were you doing?"

"I'm not sure…" Sabrina did not quite feel the urge to stand up yet. She simply stayed down and her mind drifted to just what she had just witnessed. It was definitely something she did not observe very often, considering how most of the time she just wears sports pants and the latex stuffs. An endearing experience, it truly was. "I was just leaning against the door, and the next thing I knew, I could see your pink…"

"Shut up!" Sabrina had no other choice in any case, considering how she was being smothered under a pillow Erika had evidently swiped from the bed. The psychic was not sure whether her friend was really murderous or simply was in too much embarrassment that she was warrant such a death sentence. Sabrina could not pretend that several hits in the face with a pillow, especially with Erika's physical strength, could have hurt much, but she suddenly felt the urge to play along. After a while, the botanist stopped to observe the state of her unfortunate victim, only to find that Sabrina was neither moving nor responsive. "Sabrina? Oh my god!"

With her distraught mind, Erika had a thought of having killed, or at least beat the living light out of, her friend and was starting to become frantic because of it. She began calling out names of random dead relatives, while furiously shaking her friend, as if it would apparently bring her back to life. After a short while, Sabrina decided that she had teased Erika enough, and if the botanist actually continued shaking her like this she might pass out for real.

"E-e-e-e-ri-ri-ri-ka-ka, st-st-op-op-p." It was the best she could mutter up at that moment, and it took a while for it to sink in. However, as soon as her friend realized that she was talking, Erika could not help but explode into a rapture of tears, as Sabrina could feel herself being crushed under her friend's massive embrace. "Ow~"

"Sabrina, you're alive!" As if the psychic was a ragdoll, Erika continued to violently, albeit also affectionately, hugged and jiggle her body left and right, causing a quick feeling of disorientation building up within Sabrina. "I was so worried."

"I could see that." Now Sabrina was starting to feel bad that she had joked perhaps a little bit too far. It was also nice knowing that her friend was worrying about her that much. Still, whether it was worth almost being strangled to death or not was another matter altogether. It was a few seconds before she was let go, and she used her new found freedom to find her breathe. "Where were you?"

"I was in the bathroom." It was about the most innocent answer anyone could have come up with. Sabrina felt a little bit silly, considering how she had let her mind wanders to all sorts of crazy theory, yet the most obvious and apparently fitting one had eluded her mind all this time. Smiling to herself, she made Erika inquire. "What's so funny?"

"No, nothing." Sabrina was now finally able to fully stand up. Doing so hastily made her feel rather dizzy, but it was nothing she could not shrug off. Erika watched her friend endearingly as if she was a child that just fell down and in need of help, which Sabrina obviously took notice to. "I'm fine Erika."

"Are you sure?" The psychic was not sure that her friend was truly questioning her honesty, or the botanist was simply worrying for the sake of it.

"Yes, don't worry." Erika seemed rather reluctant to accept that fact, but she had no other choice after all. Both of them were two fully grown women, and there were certainly boundaries they had to respect if one were to avoid being awkward. "More importantly, are you ready to go?"

"Yes." Sabrina nodded at that response. She believed that she could trust her friend to be at least punctual about these kinds of matter. Erika wasted no time to gather up her belongings, only a suit case worth of personal things. She came here on a rush nevertheless, and there was not really much stuffs needed to enjoy being on a cruise ship for a few days.

"The ship should be arriving at any moment now." Sabrina calmly stated. She could see Erika observing her stance, perhaps wondering why there was no luggage associated with the psychic. Of course, the fact that she had a frequent lounge for personal use on the vessel was unknown to the botanist. If her friend did not ask, then she would prefer to keep it a secret.

"We have arrived in Saffron, and we will stay here for the next two hours. Passengers who wish to make quick trips and visits are advised to leave immediately should they want to make it back for the next course, or they would have to wait until tomorrow's morning. That is all."

They wasted no time staying and listening to that ever so familiar announcement. Sabrina noticed how both of them seemed rather happy to be getting off the ship. She knew why she would be, but Erika was still a mystery to her at this point. The botanist was just being such a fascination. It did not take them long to discard of any means of travel other than foot. Sabrina immediately disregarded the option of calling a cab. For one, she would hate to see anyone she actually knows, and especially not when she was travelling with Erika. People could get the wrong idea, or at least that was what she thought might happen. Then again, two people walking down the streets together might just produce the same results, so in the end she really could not have justified her decision. Thankfully, Erika did not seem at all bothered by the fact that she would have to walk, even though she was still carrying the suitcase from before. Eventually they got to Saffron's gym without a hitch, of course they were not exactly speaking to each other on the way either. Sabrina was just leading in silence, and her friend could not do much except simply following.

"Here we are." Sabrina casually stood aside, letting Erika take a good look of the gym. It was absolutely stellar, in the botanist's opinion. To Sabrina herself, she was so used to it that it had become rather stale compared many more exciting design she could have tried. However, it was not something she had any control over. Truth is told, even though the leader had the rights to modify the looks of his or her gym however they liked, Sabrina's situation was a harsh compromise, at least in her view. However, she would rather die than admit that to anyone, since it was something not even her family knew. It was just one of those things that people would simply prefer it to be locked up inside and never come out.

"It's marvelous!" Sabrina could have sworn that her friend's eyes were sparkling. It was just one of the many captivating aspects of Erika, the psychic noted. She could be so honest with herself, yet still go beyond that shallow and predictable personality that Sabrina was all too familiar with. Even though the two of them were only on the outside of the structure, the botanist seemed unable to contain her excitement. "It looks so much cooler than mine."

"I find that hard to believe." Sabrina crossed her arms in inquiry. If her clothes were anything to judge by, Erika appeared to be quite the stylist individual. The psychic found it rather hard to believe that her friend would be incapable of pulling off one hell of a gym. "You seem like one to have good taste."

"Oh that's not the problem." Erika answered sheepishly. She appeared to be rather embarrassed, much to Sabrina's amusement. "I usually just got too caught up in gym work and my plants to have time to pretty up the space."

"Sounds reasonable, I guess." Sabrina shrugged. There was little point of pursuing such an uninteresting topic, considering how Sabrina herself was a person who found fashion and similar worldly things insignificant. To her, deeper fields of study were much more of enjoyment. Also, that was what she was going to do right now, no questions asked. "Come on in."

"Thanks for having me." Erika responded with a bright smile, which caused Sabrina to falter somewhat. She was not sure of how to react, and decided to stay silent instead. As the door to her gym opened up, introduced a view that the botanist was not at all familiar with. The sheer number of pathways stuck with narrow passages and confined rooms were something she did not appreciate much. It was strangely unsettling to look at. Sabrina, however, seemed completely at home. Erika guessed because this was really the psychic's home. Most gym leaders have their own house to go back to when the gym close down, but some preferred to stay within their own quarters instead. It was a pleasant discovery that Erika made sure to remember for later. "This place seems…"

"Upsetting?" Sabrina coldly provided.

"I wouldn't…"

"Don't be, it was made to be that way." Sabrina motioned her friend to follow her. She actually did not like how the place looked either, but she had no control over it, not to mention she got used to it anyways. It was made to induce nightmarish presentation of the person's greatest fears, extremely fitting tool for a psychic to use. The apprentices usually dress up as mediums to strengthen the genuineness of the atmosphere, which was why she usually did not have to battle much. The whole gym setting was a huge obstacle in itself for trainers to pass, and most of them did not have the guts. "Dan, I'm back!"

"Miss. Sabrina!" Erika was not sure of where the mysterious watcher, or his voice, came from, but she did not appreciate such a thing. She hated being sneaked up on, and maybe that was something she needed to tell her friend later. Oblivious to her presence, Dan cheerfully approached his superior with a painted-on smile. "Welcome back, everyone had missed you."

"I'm sure they told you to say that." Dan's expression dropped, but Sabrina was bemused as well. It confirmed her suspicion. A lot of people here were still bitter about how she got the gym leader status, even though there were so many others in line before her. She was far from the strongest trainer in the gym at the time as well, even though she had grown quickly to become so, it was not fair in their opinions. Sabrina was perfectly aware of such attitudes around her own home, but nevertheless paid little attention to it. She might have been a bit insecure when she first got the job, but now she did not perceive any of them as an actual threat to her well being. "I believe you have not touched any of my belongings when I was gone?"

"Oh good heavens no, miss." Dan shook his head and hand like a little child denying his wrongdoing. However, as cynical as she was, Sabrina knew that he was not lying. She could probably check for herself easily, but she would rather not go through the tiring process. It was unknown to her since when did she start to trust him, but she did. Perhaps his positive attitude and dedication to his work had got through to her, as she found herself talking to him more often than not, when she was not burying herself in work of course. "Your room and everything else had not been messed with in anyway."

"That is good to hear." Sabrina nodded in appreciation. She felt less the need to keep up her cold exterior once she was home like this. It was clunky as it is. "Come on Erika, follow me."

"Ah, yes." Erika's presence was finally noticed by Dan. He was rather ignorant of her importance before it became so for Sabrina too. He also remembered the name Erika rather clearly. She was that gym leader who called here a few days ago, looking for the female psychic. It seemed the two of them had met up, what a frightening coincidence. He was sure that nothing good would come of this, but his place was not to question anyone's doing. "It is nice to meet you."

"Yes, you too." He was a bit surprised hearing Erika greet him, and he only politely responded. Dan supposed that the botanist was simply a nice person at heart, and went with it. He had no interest in finding out, after all.

Sabrina did not pay any attention to that little exchange. Instead, she casually walked through a maze to her room. Erika had to catch up and be extremely cautious to not get lost in it. It took around two full minutes for both of them to reach a chamber with absolutely only one way in and out. Erika seemed rather confused, which slightly amused her friend. Sabrina simply approached the end of the room and placed her hand on a very peculiar part of the wall. The other hand signaled Erika to approach, which was saw to immediately.

"No one else but I, Dan and the helpers know of the existence of this room, and only he and I know what this room even is." Sabrina's voice became serious, as to indicate the significance of what she was telling her friend. Erika continuously nodded; pointing out that she was following on the psychic's every word and she understood the importance of it as well. "By showing this to you, I trust you with this secret, and you are never to reveal it to anyone else, is that clear?"

"Yes." Erika gulped when she saw Sabrina's smiling at her answer. She was unsure whether she should have simply promised it like that, but the curiosity was getting the better of her. The psychic pressed the part of the wall, and the moving of some mechanism within the concrete was heard. Suddenly, the wall itself slid to the side slowly, revealing a door hidden behind it. As Sabrina turned the knob, Erika's expression tightened. She was not sure of what to expect within the room. It was said to be Sabrina's personal room after all, and she wondered what mysteries laid within.

She was not disappointed.

"So, this is my room, please step in." As the door closed itself behind her, Erika could also hear the sound of the wall rolling into place to cover things up. "We sanitary gym leader who also happened to live in our gym usually have one of these secrets rooms, in order to keep it off the hand of certain traveling trainers who wishes to explore the gyms. Personal space issues, I'm sure you can relate to that."

"Oh… ok." Erika was a bit too busy looking at Sabrina's room to pay much attention to her comment. The entire room seemed not too far off from an apartment, but it gave off this indescribable mystical vibe that seemed to suck people in. A desk set on the side, a TV, a bed and a few chairs with a bathroom at a far side, all fundamental things for a modern human's living. There are, however, very strange objects lying around certain parts of the room. However, those were not voodoo dolls or crystal balls, if cliché movies were of any indications. Rather handfuls of kitchen wear, seemingly modified to a certain style. Of course, one could not ignore the computer at the side, the preferable immobile transport of Pokéballs. "This place is so bizarre, in a good way, of course."

"Interesting choice of words, Miss. Erika." Sabrina, leaning to the side with her hand covering part of her face, comically commented.

"I don't want to sound ungrateful…" Erika, after the initial excitement sunk down, stood to think about her current situation. There was definitely a part of this whole thing that she was left out of, and it was making her rather uncomfortable. "But, why exactly did you bring me back here?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sabrina's forward reaction caught Erika off guard. The psychic simply moved towards her friend in a swaying motion. It was completely of habit for her to do so, but the botanist took it a different way. If anything, this reminded her of that time back on the ship when Sabrina was positively drunk. Erika gulped. She was not sure what was going to happen, but she obviously could not contain herself. She slowly backed off. However, being inside a locked room, she knew that there was no place for her to run to. Even when Sabrina's face became dangerously close, she was definitely not thinking of anything. "Please do not worry; I only take you with me to conduct a little research."

"Re… research?" Erika eased off when the psychic started to pull away from her and aimed for the computer instead. What she was worried would happen do not, and now she felt extremely silly for ever thinking that it would have. She was not even sure she actually preferred it not happen, or just that she felt she was not ready for it to. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know what I do for a living don't you?" Sabrina turned her head and smiled at her friend, her fingers surged through the keyboard, punching in information onto the PC. "Don't say gym leader."

"You're a psychic." Erika stated so. It was rather obvious, and she was not sure why Sabrina would ask something like that. However, she sure that it was some significance, considering how her friend usually does not do meaningless things.

"Exactly, I require you to cooperate with me." Sabrina finished off her work. Not too long after, a Pokéball dropped onto the transfer tablet. Sabrina casually picked it up, her eyes fixated on her friend. Erika seemed to be baffled by the recent happenings, and was not following exactly what her friend was trying to say. "I would need you so I can test out a new theory I've recently developed, would that be alright?"

"Why me?"

"Because I can trust you not to reveal any of the secrets you've seen here."

"Is it dangerous?"

"No, not at all. Basically all you need to do is sleep."

"I… see." Erika calmed herself down. Sabrina was asking her really nicely after all, and there was not any glaring reason why she would be tricked. This might turn out a bit unpleasant, but she was sure that nothing of serious harm would happen to her.

"Would you do it?" Sabrina raised an eyebrow at the botanist. Even though she was asking, she was also expecting her friend to accept. It was one of her mysterious ways of manipulating people, even when she was not consciously aware of the fact that she was doing so.

"I guess there's no reason to decline." Erika shrugged lightly. It was most definitely the answer that Sabrina was expecting.

"Splendid, let's waste no time."


	6. Dream on

**For those who are not aware of my other fictions, I do apologize for the late update. I would not put the readers through yet another round of emotional roller coaster of my own before they are able to do what they actually came here for. So, without further ado, chapter 5.**

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_Chapter 5: Dream on_

"So…" Erika breathed rather heavily. She had never done this before, having to sleep under pressure. She was neither quite tired enough to require rest or the bed she was lying on was particularly comfortable. Perhaps demanding for a cozy day bed would be pushing the line. However, she would never be quite asking for too much to sleep on anything more than a mat. The botanist did not want to distraught her friend however, considering the fact that Sabrina would be the one who was sleeping on this everyday. It might be the little competitive aspect of Erika's personality that was driving her forward, saying that she had to do this. "I'm… just going to go to sleep?"

"Yes." Sabrina, sitting next to her, held her arms crossed and eyes fixed on the person on her mat. Usually, she would just sleep sitting up, thus rendering the need for an actual bed redundant. That said; she also knew that Erika was feeling a bit bumpy lying upon it. Still, she had nothing to offer up as a replacement at the moment, so Sabrina had to turn a blind eye at the botanist's discomfort and do her thing regardless. However, the fact that her friend was obviously having trouble trying to sleep in the first place was holding her back. "I understand that you might not be feeling too up for the task under these conditions."

"Oh no, I'm fine… I'm just…" Erika shrugged it off, albeit even that was hard to do considering what she was sleeping on. She wanted to move, but she was also being stared down by the psychic at the same time. It was unnerving at the very least, and she gulped ever so often, and that did not help anyone's cause. They had been trying this for the last fifteen minutes, and it was not working. "Do you usually have something to help put people to sleep?"

"I'm a psychic, not a magician, Erika." Sabrina seemed slightly amused by her friend's attitude. She could guess that Erika was trying as hard as she could to not be difficult, but nothing was going according to plan. Being in her profession, the best way to put people to sleep was hypnotizing. However, hypnotized victims lacked the ever so delicate and important dream state that naturally induced sleepers had. "I cannot put you under a trance either, for that would completely ruin the point of the experiment."

"I see…" Erika dropped her shoulders a bit. She was getting anxious, all things considered. Usually she would be the one to stay awake long at night. She was used to staying up for long periods of time, since she had to take care of her night-time garden as well. To suddenly just drop asleep would be neigh impossible for her.

"Erika…" Sabrina, becoming quite impatient herself, knew that she had to push something to happen before she can continue with this. She stared down at the botanist, straight into her pair of glittering eyes. Erika gulped, as she suddenly felt extremely coerced. It was a psychic method that Sabrina had to induce, in order to make any progress. "Usually, how do you fall asleep when you have problem doing so?"

"I…" Her face flushing, Erika still could not shake locking her eyes with her friend's. She was being pulled into the gaze, and she knew it. However, she could not resist in the slightest, and was forced to speak the truth. It was embarrassing, and one of the many reasons why she preferred to live alone rather than at the gym, or else other people may discover. "I would usually hug a fluffy toy Tangela until I fall asleep."

With that, the chain was broken. Sabrina turned away, as her friend had time to catch up on breathing. She had just unveiled perhaps one of the most insignificant, yet personally mortifying secrets she ever had to tell. Confused and distraught, Erika was not sure how she would react to Sabrina's own reaction knowing her secret. The botanist jerked slightly, her view slowly moved towards the psychic, as she seemed to be deep within thought. Various thoughts raced through her head, particular of what her friend must have been thinking of her after having heard she say that. However, little was induced by Sabrina, as she kept her thoughts to herself. It was not until a full ten minutes before she disclosed her plan, and a desperate one at that.

"I shall find you a substitute for your toy." She simply stated, as Erika's eyes went wide open. It was great that the psychic decided not to make fun of her, or was simply absorbed in thoughts to care for something like that, or was mortified herself. If anything, Erika had no idea what Sabrina was talking about. The room itself, even though largely mysterious, was simplistically decorated. Unless the psychic suddenly pulled out a doll of her own and gave it to her, Erika was not really catching on. "Would that be sufficient?"

"I think so…" Erika was still very skeptical about this plan. She knew that she did not have quite the high standards when it came to children's toys, but there were various reasons that she had to doubt the fact that Sabrina was keeping any around, or even had anything to substitute for one. However, she knew that she was in for a surprise, as her friend sighed rather expressively. Sabrina started to lay herself down on the mat as well, facing away from the botanist as she pushed herself closer. "Sabrina, what are you doing?"

"I… I don't exactly have anything cute or fluffy." Her voice seemed extremely flustered, and for good reasons. Erika could not quite see the mien of the psychic at that moment, but she was most probably as abashed as her friend was. The botanist gulped once more, waiting for the sentence to be finished. "If it's not too weird, I can be of a replacement."

"Erm…" No matter how she tried to think of alternatives, there was none that Erika could come up with. It was obvious that the psychic wanted her to hug her friend so that she could fall asleep. They had little contact ever since last night, and this was just a whole new level of bizarreness. However, seeing that Sabrina had tried her best to make this work, she should do so as well. "Would that be alright?"

"I don't mind." It was also the best that Sabrina could say at that moment.

"Ok…" Erika slowly turned towards her friend's back, as her own arm draped over the psychic's shoulders, locking the two of them into a tight embrace. They were both very red, but nonetheless comfortable. It was so much less awkward than both of them had originally thought. They could not see each other's faces, but their bodies were already starting to relax. Not having to talk any longer, Erika rested her head near the psychic's neck and unwounded the pressure. Sabrina could feel the loosen breaths down the back of her neck, surprisingly soothing. She could also feel Erika's heartbeat calmly resonating through her core, as the ample breasts were pressed against her back. She was heating up, or rather both of them. However, Sabrina tried her best not to react. It was quick, only a few minutes before the psychic felt Erika's body to have settled down totally. Slowly turning around, she could feel her friend's body traced across her own in an unconscious fashion.

"Right…" Sabrina calmed herself down, and focused on Sabrina's slumbering state instead. She loosened her grip upon reality, as she injected herself onto the botanist's subconscious.

Once again, Sabrina found herself in a familiar setting. Trees were everywhere, with various heights and shapes. She knew fully well that trying to identify these trees individually would be a completely waste of time, as she was not nearly as qualified enough to do so as well. There was a pathway, as she was standing on. It was surprisingly similar to that when she had first entered Erika's dream back on the S.S. Anne. The difference, however, was that this time around, the trees surrounding her was particularly full of flowers and appeared to be a lot more upbeat this time around, which she thought was not too strikingly odd. Of course, she quickly decided that standing here would not be the best of options. That said; she was at a predicament. Sabrina was standing at the middle of a road, as it leaded to both ways. Being within a subconscious, the psychic knew that there was little of a choice that she had about which way she could take. The dreams had their boundaries, and they would, slowly or abruptly, adjust to the manifestation of an external injection, this being Sabrina's consciousness. This would mean that whether she could find where the subconscious Erika was had nothing to do with the choice of her own, but whether she was simply lucky enough or not. With that in mind, Sabrina began walking. As she began on her journey towards nowhere in particular, she paid close attention to her surroundings. As far as she knew, it was not changing like the last time she was here, made her wonder whether she took the right route or not. However, having no idea of exactly what her friend was capable of, she decided to simply stick to her route until she should reach a dead end. With the concept of time non-existent, everything is determined by the sleeper's subconscious. Sabrina noticed that the boxed-in feeling her previous had, the last time she was in here, was still present. It did not help that even though the trees were not changing, the path way she was walking on was. It gradually became narrower the more she walked across it, only made her doubt her decision even more. However, she soon reached the end. Rather hurriedly, in fact, that she reached the end even though her eyes were not picking up any signs of one just a second ago. This meant that Erika's subconscious had taken up the fact that Sabrina was here, meddling in it. Whether it identified the psychic as a threat or not was not yet known, but she knew well what she would have wished for if she had a choice. If she was subjected as a menace, passing through this end would automatically eject her from this dream state and forcing her to do everything all over again. Should she decided to enter once more, it would still be resilient to her efforts and basically nullified the whole process. If it turned up good, then she would be directly exposed to Erika's current state of mind. Reaching her hand out, Sabrina pressed against the "end". Strictly speaking, there was nothing in front of her. However, seeing as how this complete blankness suddenly blocked off the road and the ways of the trees was enough to warrant it as an invisible wall. She could feel the roughness and solidity of it with her fingers. Unnervingly, a loud crack within the "end" could be heard, as an extremely familiar sound of moving mechanisms proved to be rather unsettling for Sabrina. The blankness gradually cracked open before flinging itself apart, revealing a hidden room inside. If Sabrina did not know any better, she would have suspected that the setting she had just gotten through was simply the same as her own room within the gym. The fact was, though, she really did not know any better. It seemed undeniably convincing that once again, she was walking into yet another real life setting which would inevitably become upsetting in general. Stepping into the chamber, she was immediately filled with disturbances. As she had expected, the scenery was not at all different from her own room in the conscious world. This is exceptionally special, considering how among normal people's minds and memories, the construction of a locale would simply be left to blurry small particles picked up in order to craft up an equally poor reconstruction of an existing landmark. Within this particular dream however, her room was recreated into almost perfect details, emphasizing on the glaringly large capacity of the subject, Erika. Sabrina stride deeper into the room in order to take a better look, and discover her apparently uncomfortable mat still where it was supposed to be. She could spot herself and the dream Erika, in the same position as they were before Erika had fallen asleep. However, the dream Sabrina was also sleeping, arms locking itself with Erika's. There were smiles on both of their faces, which even though were buoyant, ultimately only helped to intimidate Sabrina further. The fact that this was, in fact, a recreation of Erika's own design on the real world, made Sabrina only more bothered about the extend of these dreams. Being too close to reality, it would incontrovertibly affect one's perception of the real world, in this case, Erika's. However, there was something Sabrina had to check first. Closing in on her dream self, she knew that was she was doing would be extremely dangerous. Should Erika realize that she was in her dream, terrible things might happen to this reality. Drawing close, Sabrina quickly checked the conditions of her dream manifestation. The dream Sabrina appeared to be alive, unlike the last one, but sleeping perfectly still. It was unknown why Erika was asleep in her own dream, or should this only be a subset of a larger one.

"Ugh…" Sabrina was alarmed by that noise. It came from one of the two people on the bed, which might indicate their waking up soon. She hid herself within the closet nearby, one that she was already very familiar with. Opening it up, there were no clothes, which were explainable, considering how Erika had no idea of what was actually inside the real thing. It worked in favor of the psychic, as she could sneak in while giving herself just enough breathing room to spy on the dream persons on the mat. Soon enough, she saw Erika stretched herself, as if she was waking up. Knowing that this was a dream itself, Sabrina suspected that the botanist was having a dream within her own dream, plunging her into yet a deeper subconscious, which would explain how she could have been sleeping. A lot of people have this problem as well, waking up from a nightmare only to another nightmare. From behind the closet doors, Sabrina silently observed her friend. Erika sat up half way, as the dream Sabrina was still sleeping. Once done, with her arms still around the dream manifestation, pulling that Sabrina up next to her on the wall behind them. The botanist rested both of them upon the wall, still in close proximity, locked in what seem like an eternal embrace. In this position, the dream's representation of the psychic had her head resting on the botanist's chest. "Sabrina, wake up please."

With that, the dream Sabrina slowly opened her eyes. It was extremely frightening to see herself within the boundaries of Erika's dream unconsciously abide to the botanist's every whim, as if this was a lucid dream in itself. The thought scared Sabrina, as if it was the truth, then Erika herself must also be aware of the injection of Sabrina's consciousness into her own. Soon enough, the dream Sabrina had her eyes fully up. The real Sabrina was staring at those eyes, rigid and without an actual soul, just like every other person's depictions within others' dreams. Suddenly, the two's sight locked, as both froze. They now share a mutual realization of each other within the contiguity of this reality, as it unraveled.

Sabrina was back into her own consciousness, gasping for air. That was a truly daunting experience. She had read many people's minds and dreams before, but none of them were quit realistic yet subtly overwhelming as Erika's. It was as if she was being watched the whole time, even though she believed that she was watching the botanist instead. However, the realization did not stop there. As soon as Sabrina caught her breathe, she was aware of the oddities. She was no longer on the bed, lying forward at Erika as she should have been. Rather, both of them were up and against the wall, and her head was in extreme proximity of Erika, exactly the position where they were within the dream state. Without sudden movements, Sabrina felt sick. This made absolutely no sense to her. Since she was not really dreaming, but simply rather giving up consciousness, her body should have no motion of its own, and should it be affected externally by an unknown force, her consciousness residing in Erika's would have taken notice. Yet, both of them moved without her knowing a thing. Erika appeared to be asleep at that moment, but Sabrina could feel the motion of her chest echoing through.

"Erika." The psychic was in need of her friend waking up to compare the details of what they had just experienced. Pulling herself from the botanist's embrace, Sabrina waited patiently for her friend to awaken. Soon enough, Erika's body reacted to the voice of her friend and turned a slight bit. Sabrina continued to put force into the botanist's skin, in order to force out a reaction. It worked, as Erika was plunged away from her sleep.

"Sabrina…?" Wiping her eyes, Erika appeared to be a bit flabbergasted by her friend's sudden need to call her up. "What is it?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Sure, about what?"

"About your dream,"

"What dream?" Sabrina stiffened herself as the answer caught her absolutely off-guard. It was not one she would expect, nor one which would make sense. She stared at her friend, as Erika finished wiping her eyes and returned the look. "What are you talking about?"

"No… way…" Erika's eyes were simply soulless, deepening voids taking their place upon her face. Sabrina could not believe what she was seeing. There was no explanation to which why this was happening. The only thing that would make sense is…

Sabrina sprung up from the mat, gasping for air. Sweats dripped down the side of her face extensively. Her eyes opened wide, trying their best to take in the details of the reality around her. She was in her room. That was normal. She was on the mat. That was normal. Erika was still sleeping next to her, lying down, with arms just flung over by Sabrina's own sudden movements. That was normal as well. It took Sabrina quite a few seconds to realize the state she was in. However, the first thing she needed to do was to compare the genuineness of this reality. She, rather forcefully, grabbed Erika by the shoulders and sprung her up from the bedding. The botanist was quickly pulled up from her dream state by that, confused by what had just happened.

"Sabrina, what are…?" Before she could finished her sentence, the psychic pried open her sleepy eye lids, as her own faced with Sabrina's. It was strange at the very least, as she see Sabrina slightly breathed out heavily afterwards. "What is wrong?"

"No, it's fine." Sabrina knew that she was truly awake now. What she had just endured through was truly a terrible experience. Realizing that she was in a dream was one thing, if her name was not Sabrina. Having completely rid herself of dream and the similar level of consciousness, the psychic truly had not expected to have one any time soon. The worst was not being able to tell quite well just what part she had seen was Erika's dream, her dream, both or even none of the above. "I think we should stop…"

"With what?" Erika was truly confused. Only now did she have the chance to wipe her eyes and take a better look. Their surroundings were completely normal, but Sabrina's expression clearly showed otherwise. It was obviously that the psychic was troubled, but with what, Erika could not tell. "You seem…"

"It's nothing." Sabrina calmed herself down. A lot of thoughts raced through her mind, ranging from extreme confusion to deeper states of self-depression. All of those were quickly passed, however, considering how she had retaken the grasp on reality. She now had serious second thoughts about her initials assessments of Erika's "potential". Nothing of it seemed normal to her, and she was suspecting that Erika had actually manifested upon her subconscious instead, forcing her out of the dream and forcing the fabrication upon her own. It was simply too unsettling for her to wrap her head around, so she decided not to. "I think this would be enough, Erika."

"So what are your findings?" The botanist looked genuinely interested in what her friend had come up with. However, only distraught was in Sabrina's mind, as she was completely unaware of how this might have affected her. Having to read other people's mind, she had trained herself to never have a dream, as those would easily conflict with her own subconscious infusing itself within others', and what just happened was a perfect example.

"Nothing…"


	7. Moonlight Sonata

**I apologize for the late update. I've just gotten back from a vacation and work would have to start soon, so the next ones would be a bit stretched out. I'd do what I can, but rushing is something out of the question, considering how I still have quality to keep up.**

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Chapter_ 6: Moonlight Sonata_

"Sabrina, what is it?" The botanist reached for her friend's head, as the sweats have yet to cease pouring down the pale skin of the female psychic. If there were anything apparent, that would have been Erika's genuine worried look lingering on her face. There was no doubt that Sabrina has just went through a rather horrible experience, or reading, whatever them psychics do. Regardless, she seemed deeply troubled. "You don't really look like you're alright."

"It is nothing, Erika, please." Sabrina, if anything, was extremely tired and distraught. She did not want to have a discussion at a time like this, as it would only cause her even more distress and perhaps even some traumatic incidents. She has had a bit of time to recollect her thoughts and consciousness, but not much strength was in her. Feeling weak was something everyone hated, but Sabrina, being the proud woman she was, despised it. Even though the only thing she would like to do right now was to lie down and rest, the stubborn in her was not too compliant with that request. "You need not be bothered by this. Moreover, this experiment is over, as I cannot help to bring myself into it again."

"I thought you said there was nothing you learned?" Erika seemed rather confused, and for good reasons. She was not at all aware of whatever dream she just had, as those would always escape her, whenever it came down to remembering the details of the slumbers. She did not know much about psyche either, just the basic definition and the fact that her friend is specialized in such a field. She did, however, from time to time see people do it on televisions, reading one's fate and manipulate the actions of others. The botanist was not sure whatever Sabrina was up to when she let the psychic roamed around in her head willingly, but it seemed to have disturbed Sabrina a lot.

"That's exactly the problem." Sabrina sighed, stopped her hectic breathing pattern and calmed down her nerves. She did her best to pull herself together before continuing. However, those thoughts returned to her mind soon after, severely limiting the expense of thoughts she could mutter to restrain her body's desire to scream and pass out. It would be strange, at the very least, considering how she had just been sleeping, and even dreaming. Nevertheless, Sabrina honed enough consciousness to put forward a decently fabricated explanation. "I was in there for who knows how long, and there was absolutely nothing I make out of the whole time I was there."

"Oh…" Erika appeared slightly bemused. In truth, based on how little her knowledge on related subjects was; there was nothing strange about things seemingly less exciting than she had primarily suspected. However, she still did feel something wrong, as the psychic's answer would neither answer nor address the largest mystery at the time: what had affected Sabrina so much that would lead her out of her sleep so disoriented. "But I…"

"Please Erika, lay it to rest." Sabrina was not sure why she simply could not help and tell her friend the truth. Whether it was because of her lack of interest in explaining to a civilian the definition of inception, or there was something deeper in her subconscious that was telling the psychic to keep what she had experienced a secret. There were various details of the vague encounter that, without any doubt, kept haunting her good. She was not quite sure whether she was disturbed by the realistic assembly or the fact that Sabrina herself was in every single one of them. Whatever it was, she was curious about, but would never care enough to return to investigating again. "I apologize that I have not come to a single conclusion even with your participation, but I must decline the notion of ever recreating it again."

"Alright…" Erika was not sure what to do at the moment. Surely there are other things people would do around these parts, but she was completely unaware of what time is it outside, concerning how the room they were in had absolutely no window, rather a confined space of mental concentration that was supposed to make timeless. "So… what now?"

"I… right…" Sabrina brought herself down from the bed and stretched a bit, as she sorely missed the exercise. There were no watches or clocks of any sort within her private chambers, but she could tell the time well enough. It was always strangely accurate, even thought it was far from one of her psychic powers. Erika took notice, as expected. "It's around midnight now, but I don't think you're in the mood for more sleep."

"That's true…" The botanist nodded slightly. She would be bored out of her mind should her friend suggest her waiting out the night in slumber once again. She recalled the time being here. If it was near midnight, it meant that she had stayed here since seven hours ago or so, and the ship would not be coming to take her home for another two days. Strangely, the thought of doing so was actually rather up beat for Erika. Sure, she did somewhat missed what would happen to her garden back home, and her Pokémons as well. However, those were in good hands, and there were absolutely no reasons not to trust her accomplices to do their job well. She could stay here basically until whenever she wanted. "What do you want to do?"

"I take it that you don't quite enjoy the confinement of this room?" Sabrina raised an eyebrow at Erika's immediate apologetic reaction. It was quite obvious how the botanist was agreeing with the idea, yet still trying to find a good way of expressing her opinion as to not offend the owner. Sabrina really could not care less about such trivial things, though, as she would much just get things done rather than worrying about semantics. "Don't worry, you can say it."

"Well, it's true that I don't actually like it very much." Erika was happy to receive a nod from Sabrina, because it was positively killing her trying to figure out a good method to put this down easily. Now that she has had permission, she could say whatever was on her mind. "It is kind of creepy, not to mention a bit dark, and cold, and somewhat frightening. Oh yeah, and the walls…"

"Stop." Regardless of what she had said, there was little patience she at her expense to give to people who complained on her taste. Really, she knew that she was not much for style, but it suited her, and that was enough. Erika, though, after being abrubtly disrupted out of her speech, felt somewhat a need to restrain her talking a bit. Sabrina did not mean for that, but her words were too late to try and take back now. "Never mind, you do not like it, alright. Let's just get out of here, I guess."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." The botanist felt regulated to excuse herself of misunderstanding, but the effort went unconcerned. She gathered no immediate reply from her friend, as there was nothing else to do but to get her off the mat and approach the metal door. She was not sure how it would work being opened from the inside out though, as she could do nothing else but looked to her friend with endearment, hoping something would most likely come up. "Erm…"

"Here." The psychic did feel a bit sorry and much less apathetic for the other woman than what she would have expected. She did not really tell anyone how to open this door from inside out however, as that would forever be her own little secret. There was a knob on the door, at the very least, but it appeared to not work, seeing how it could not even be turned, which Erika found out the hard way. Her friend's little stumble did slightly amused Sabrina, but she did not act out on it. Rather, she simply did what she always did: placing her hand upon the door and literally forcing open, as the thousands of tons of concrete mechanism unfolded themselves behind the door. As it ripped open, the psychic walked out, with her friend following swiftly behind, not wanting to get stuck between the re-rolling. "What would you do now?"

"Well, I usually would be preparing to go to bed right now, but seeing as how that would no longer be an option; I guess I'd go out for some moonlight." Erika smiled rather sheepishly, as she took the initiative and simply head away from the large opening on the wall that she had just walked through. Sabrina seemed rather uncomfortable with her friend's sudden change of activeness, but only shrugged and decided to follow her on. The psychic was, however, mildly impressed that the botanist managed to get out of the gym scratch-free, considering how the gym grounds were supposed to be a maze with a dead end. It might be attributed to the lack of energy running through the main blocks, disabling the teleports, but it was impressive nonetheless. Soon enough, the two of them had finally left the Saffron Gymnasium and out onto the city lights outside. Erika seemed so eager that her friend wondered what ever it that gave the botanist so much energy was. If she would be like this every time she got up from bed, then Sabrina would be truly envious. "I miss the city lights."

"Who would have thought?" Sabrina shrugged slightly, as the botanist turned at her with a face full of inquiry. She would have smirk a little as she answered, but decided against it. "Well, I thought that such a nature girl like you would enjoy the unpopulated areas much more."

"I am a nature lover, Sabrina, but I was born between the city lights." Erika smiled, as she would take Sabrina's assumptions as an honest mistake. To be fair, anyone would have made that guess, but there were just things best left unsaid. With that in mind, however, the botanist had a plan in mind. It would require a bit of luck on her friend's part, but she was more than willing to give it a shot. "Hey, do you want to come with me?"

"Where?" The psychic was rather suspicious of the intentions. Sure, she trusted Erika, as much as she trusted anyone not named her mother. Still, she was not one to take offers to anywhere. Still, refusing the botanist's proposal now seemed like bad taste in general, since it was Sabrina herself who asked her friend to stay over in her city for the next few days. It would only take a three hour drive to get back to Celadon, but Erika must admit this was somehow more pleasant. "What do you have in mind?"

"Why, watching the moon of course." No sooner said than done, Sabrina suddenly felt her wrist grabbed onto by the botanist, as Erika dragged her friend straight out of the city's concrete roads and up to the nearby forest. The psychic was not sure whether she wanted to resist or not, but the sheer speed of excitement she was being roped into was much more than fathomable. Thus, she decided to simply roll with whatever her friend had come up with. Make no mistake, Sabrina was not at all enthusiastic about nature in general, but there was nothing better to do at the time. Soon, they reached a stop. "Here."

"Why here?" Sabrina felt a bit silly, having asked that, after recognizing the most obvious reason to pick the spot that they were in. From here was a clear view of the night sky, riddled with everlasting star systems and most beauteously, the shining moon. It had been a while since the psychic was outside at a time like this, but she was being surprisingly not difficult. Erika did not know this of course, as she herself had done this many times, and even more so frequently whenever she had the chance. Sometimes, when she was done with her nightly garden maintenance, the botanist would just walk to the nearest soft patch the grass, face the moon above and fall into the softest of sleeps. "Never mind…"

"Isn't it beautiful?" As the two women settled themselves onto the low grass below, their full attention was upon the night sky and many of its glorious secrets. There was nothing in particular alluring about the setting, but the soothing wind and swaying grass might convince people otherwise. Erika had no seemingly need for subtlety, as she simply nudged into her friend's arms, envisioning her dreams upon the stars high above. "You do like this, right?"

"That much is true." Sabrina slightly shrugged. She did notice her friend being awfully close, but there was no reason to be alarmed. As a kid, the psychic did not have many chances to make friends, considering how she was pretty much an introvert person, and barely recognized anyone else as her equal. It had resulted in many undesirable endeavors, but nothing she could not handle. However, it also robbed her of the chance to share such a glittering moment like this with anyone. "Do you do this often, Erika?"

"Oh yes, all the time in fact." Smiling brightly, Erika continued her gaze up the nighttime view above. It was just so stunning, as for its ever changing nature. She could, if not too tired, stare at it all nights sometimes, just slowly admiring the glorious pace of the undying beauty that she had the pleasure of becoming so familiar with. Sabrina could understand her friend's take on the magnificence of the stars, but she had little interest in them otherwise. The psychic had never been one for romance or tapping into her inner feelings, so expressive doings like this would never have appeared on her to-do list if it were not for Erika. Still, she had nothing against it. "This is the first time I'm doing this with someone else though."

"How come?" That did take Sabrina by surprise. From what she has heard, it could be inferred that Erika was still single, or at least not seeing anyone at the time. However, considering how she was here, Sabrina could not really put her finger on why the botanist had not share this with any of her other friends before. "I bet people would promise a lot just to be able to do this with you. What about your family and friends?"

"I…" There were simply no other follow-ups, which was strange to Sabrina. To her, it would be out of character for such a woman like Erika to not have a close relationship with her own family. She could be a bit childish sometimes, but absolutely delightful to have around otherwise, and that was coming from someone as cynical as Sabrina herself. She would have never admitted that though, not that anyone would ask. "I just don't want to talk about it… I guess."

"Ok…" Sabrina really did not expect to suddenly get hinted of Erika's apparent troubled life. It was something she did not expect, if assumptions were to blame. However, considering how she did not have much of a family thing herself, there was really no way to guess anything without resulting to double standard, which the psychic would very much appreciate not having to use most of the time. If Erika did not want to talk about it, her friend would simply pick the best choice of not bringing it up again. Curiosity did not work on psychics, apparently.

"Oh, I almost forgot what I came to meet you for!" Erika suddenly sprung up from her friend's grasp so suddenly that it almost looked like a meticulous prank. Sabrina was unhappy with that, for various reasons, but decided to keep it to herself. She simply stared at the botanist in disbelief, waiting whatever bombshell that was about to be dropped onto her. "You have to go to the League's meeting!"

"Oh god…" Sabrina did not want to be reminded of this at all. First of all, it made her remember Surge, which was a disturbing image in itself. Second of all, she absolutely despised those things for good reasons. Not only was she always have to be a one-woman army, she never really actually did win any of the votes. Sure, there was no telling whether everything she proposed was of up to par with others' or not, but it simply pissed her off to no end. "No, please don't."

"But you have to!" Sabrina was definitely not amused. Sure, she enjoyed the time she spent with Erika and all, but there was no real reason for her to have to listen to that girl right now. There had to be limits on how she would go out of the way to be influenced by a friend that she only caught up with a few days ago. In truth, the last few days did feel like a really long time, but that was no excuse to force her to comply with whatever ideas Erika has been trying to get to her.

"Why should I?" Sabrina had no problem being difficult, especially when the reasons are actually legitimate, at least in her opinion. Even though Erika was acting all hurt, it would have no effect on the psychic's decision, or so she thought.

"I was supposed to tell you to come, if you didn't, they'd be going after my neck for it!" Evidently, Erika hated the problems just as much as her friend. She never actually signed up for this, albeit she should have made that clear before volunteering to deliver the news. However, if there was anything she predicted, and then it would have been her phoning Sabrina for a five minutes call, getting everything over with and be done. However, it instead turned into a three days trip around the clock on a luxurious cruise with her friend, not to mention some very awkward moments in between. "Please?"

"No." Erika appears crestfallen, in response to her friend's blunt words. Honestly, she was not counting on Sabrina being this stubborn, but she could somewhat relate. Both of them were not really well-respected trainers in their respective fields. Yes, they have talents, and no one could challenge their positions, but they had just gotten the job for less than two years. There was no guarantee how their opinions must be heard, or at least that was what the others always tried to make it seem like. However, this was not the time to worry about going against the system. She had one choice left. Sabrina was rather surprised of how she suddenly was pulled down onto the grass below, facing directly the moon. However, her sight was blocked only a few moments later with the face of the botanist.

"Please?" Erika was basically on top of her, which Sabrina did not like. This was not one of those situations that would appear to be beneficial to her in any way, so she decided she just wanted to avoid it. However, it did not turn out to be so easy.

"Can you please get off me first?" If anything, this would create some really hefty situations that would take forever to explain, and Sabrina would not want that the slightest. Of course, nothing was ever in her hands.

"But I don't want to go there alone!" Erika's point got through this time, however, as her friend appeared to stop squirming trying to get out of her grasp. It was something she wished she did not have to do but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I…" Sabrina was being pushed to the edge alright. She did not want to distress Erika any longer, mostly because of how it was not an option to try and escape this grip. Their bodies were pressed together, and it was not as pretty as people's fantasies might suggest. "Would you just…?"

"Please?" As she was about to put her foot down, Sabrina saw her friend did something absolutely unimaginable. Lips pouting, eyes watering and arms up to her shoulders, there was just something about the botanist's current poise that was simply unresistably destructive.

"Fine!"

With that, things were done; Sabrina could no longer fight against the ever so manipulative power of Erika's pout. She hated that, of course, as perhaps in the future, her friend might just decide to use that on her again, and nothing good could come out of it, just like this one. The botanist got off her friend, but what Sabrina failed to realize was the intense breathing being held back for the last couple of minutes, masking itself under the pretext of a plea. It was unknown why someone like the psychic could have missed such an obvious change of expression on her friend's face, but then again, it did not take much to not notice Erika's extreme flustered expression.

"What is it?" Sabrina did not take too long to pick it up, however.

"I'm kind of… hot at the moment." Erika, being unexplainably clueless as she was, stated such a thing with complete innocence. Of course, her friend thought the same. Why would there be a double entendre?


	8. Hustling

**The endearing exchange of two lovely ladies had to move out of the way for a plot device. Oh no, it's an actual Pokemon battle in a Pokemon fan fiction. *gasp***_  
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**Also a small note: I use the Japanese name of Red's rival "Green" instead of the English version of the name (Blue). Don't get confused and you'd be alright.**

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_Chapter 7: Hustling_

"Welcome to the Indigo Plateau. What is your name?"

"Green Oak."

"Identifications please."

"Here"

"Yes, right this way please."

Green nodded and ambled his way into the inner chambers. It has been a pain getting here, considering how one has to get through eight separate gates of identifications, before even reaching the summit. He had really no better choice as well, for he, technically speaking, is not actually old enough to drive pretty much anything, so he had to rely on his Pokémons always. It was not entirely uncomfortable, but annoying regardless. It did not really help that people still treated him like a kid, even after all the considerable effort he had made to be able to get here today.

It was mostly because of Red.

Green sighed harshly. He promised he would not be angry at Red anymore, for he alone was the sole person who knew how Red even really became champion that day. His rival, from the very first day, seemed to have taken it for granted though, seeing as he was reported to have simply vanished. Nonetheless, he had a meeting to attend to. It seemed that there was some sort of complications within the Pokémon League that they needed him to fill a missing position or something of similar importance. He was not really sure what he was getting himself into, but there never really was anything that bad which had happened. Of course, that was aside from…

"Green Oak, glad you could make it."

Green narrowed his eyes at the sound of that voice. He knew who that was, very much so. It did not mean that he would have wanted to meet that person right now, but there really was nothing he could have done by running away, so simply facing his problems would be the best of his options at the moment. Turning around, what he saw was exactly what he expected. A man in a dark suit, whose black hat covered a large portion of his own face.

"Does anyone know you are here?" Green's inquiry went unanswered for a brief moment. He knew what the man before him was waiting for, as his own eyes scanned the room, making sure whether they were really alone or not. Perhaps next time he would not be here so early, so people can catch him isolated like this. Still, there was no retreating from this now.

"If they did, I would have been arrested by now." Only the lower portion of the man in black's face was revealed, but a truly devious smirk was easy to spot. It appeared almost as if he expected Green to ask that. That would not be too far from the truth, but none of that really mattered. It is the man's attention that Green needed to know. "Don't look at me like that; you know what I am looking for."

"I do not know where Red is now, if that is what you are asking." The smirk soon turned into a scowl, as much of it as could be seen, anyways. Green knew exactly what the man was talking about, but he would rather not try and associate himself with such a person. He did it once, and it really did not settle well with his later endeavors. However, the man would still be as unpredictable as ever, and all that the boy could do was to keep an eye out for his own sake as much as he could.

"I do not like your attempt to play games, Mr. Oak." The man appeared rather agitated by the answer. He did not quite expect it, evidently. However, he really was not buying what Green was selling. Still, what he was prepared to do would be far from dangerous that would risk him getting caught later on. "You owe me, remember?"

"Even if I did know, I would not bother telling you." Green was aware of what the man was talking about, and it has, all this time, been one of his biggest concerns. That was why he had also remembered to keep all of the badges within his wallet, and why he had never left home without carrying his entire team. It was all leading up for this moment. As the man seemed rather stunned at the turn of events, Green pulled straight out the small, green badge shaped after the acorn. He flung it towards the man, still quite bewildered. "I owe you that, now I give it back to you. However, you owe me a battle, Giovanni."

"It would appear that I do." The man in black had no other option. As his pride and position went, he could not refuse, not that he wanted to. If Green insisted on being difficult, then he would do what it takes to literally beat the information out of that boy. It would be enjoyable too, of course. "You would spill to me everything you know about Red if you lose!"

"IF I lose." Green lightly lifted his shirt ever so slightly, revealing the small bag attached to his waist line. Travellers usually preferred an entire backpack instead, but he stopped being a mere traveller a long time ago, even before facing the Elite Four. That bit was to stay a secret, of course. Swiping from the bag, he held a Pokéball in his hand, as he saw Giovanni had already prepared the same. "I do not lose."

"Funny, I remembered young Red beating you not so long ago." Being a devious person and just a generally powerful criminal boss, there was no need for Giovanni to watch his wordings. Green knew that, of course, so he really could not act wild and blow his top. No, that would be playing directly into the mafia's game, and there really was nothing else he wanted less than that. "Quite a humiliating defeat, in fact."

"That is between me and Red, old man." Their battle, in truth, was entirely a secret and unrecorded, considering it took place inside the Champion chamber. The rest of that was unknown for everyone else, but Green knew that he has always been right. "I never lose."

"If you say so." That was queue. Both trainers released their first Pokémons simultaneously. Green really did not stop to think much of what he was going to use, because admittedly he was a bit hot headed coming into this match. On the field right now was his Pidgeot against Giovanni's Rhydon, a bad match up no matter what you say of it. It does not help that most of his Pokémons are either frail or weak to Rock-type attacks. He had one distinct advantage though.

Pidgeot flew its way onto the air and swirl around in a dancing motion, creating a resonance of energy down onto the opposing Pokémon. Rhydon was clearly affected; somewhat hesitating its action, but it went through with the orders nevertheless. An array of large chunks of rocks was launched at the flying bird, hitting it hard as Pidgeot went down. At this point, the trainers did not actually have to spell out the orders for their Pokémons, simply controlling them with the connection. It was convenient at the very least, also removing the need to disrupt the environment with voices. Still, that only went to orders.

"You really do not think I have an idea of what you just did?" Giovanni smirked slightly as Green narrowed his eyes. If anything, that was a rather desperate move on his part. He knew Rhydon was just going to Rock Blast for the faint, as his knocked out Pokémon is being returned to his Pokéball right now. It was the safest move on Giovanni's part, and there really was nothing Green could do about it. The only thing that can take full powered move like that and live would be his Exeggutor, and that is only if he was lucky. However, this now allowed bringing his next Pokémon in safely. Still, how much of his plan Giovanni has figured out, he wondered. "Feather dancing eh? That is actually smart, I applaud."

Green did not feel like he needed to answer. The cross of egg trio and plant Pokémon was released from its Pokéball soon after, staring down its opponent like nothing else. It was an easy kill with a Giga Drain. As the next move prepared, Rhydon suddenly disappeared back into Giovanni's hand. Switching into the field was Nidoqueen, full fledged and ready to take any Grass type attack thrown at it. However, what the crime boss did not expect was a rain of green powder befallen the blue female beast. Its eyes frantically clapped in their sockets, but only for the briefest of moment, before it dropped entirely from sleepiness. Giovanni could be seen gritting his teeth from the side. Green could have been feeling great having landed that Sleep Powder, but he knew there was more to Giovanni's apparently clarified team that met the eyes, that was why he knew to keep his words to himself. Nidoqueen was withdrawn after that, as Rhydon came back into play. Green suddenly felt cold sweat, as his Exeggutor sacrificed a bit of its health to hide behind a Substitute. A Rock Blast coming from Rhydon right now would be able to pierce straight through the Sub and hit the Pokémon behind it as well. Exeggutor would be too slow to strike first, and even though it would easily beat off Rhydon, it is then weak to the next Pokémon coming in, risk giving Giovanni a free turn. However, he decide that since Rhydon would have to faint regardless, and Nidoqueen was also basically out for the count, losing Exuggutor's Sub in the process might not be a bad thing, since Giga Drain would largely negate the excess damage that Rock Blast would be able to deal. It turned out just as he expected, and came out with the trio egg plant recovering back most of its health.

"You are one tough cookie, Mr. Oak." Giovanni knew now that his previous underestimation of his opponent would only lead to his downfall, thus he saved most of the taunts and simply focused on planning his next move. Green, however, was rather unsure of the good of what he just did. Sure, he knew most of Giovanni's team, or at least he believed so, while the crime boss knew none of his. However, whatever changes might have happened during the time process since the last they met each other was unknown, and he feared there was some kind of trick waiting in the wings. Giovanni sent out his next Pokémon, and the boy knew he was in deep trouble. "I'm introducing you to Honchkrow, hope you like him."

Green gritted his teeth. This was one of those surprises that he hated that would happen. His Exeggutor only had Giga Drain as an attacking move, and any of Honchkrow's signature attacks would level the ground with the trio egg plant. It was ironic how much the crow fit its owner, dark and mysterious. That was one for later though, as Green had to make his move quick. He does not really have anything to take a strong physical attack from the dark crow, so he turned to his next best thing: faint fodder. Green switched in his own Rhydon, as it appears there really was nothing that it would so much beat in the opposing team. However, Honchkrow did not attack. Instead it focused its energy into a small wave of dark powers, sailing across its feathers.

"Nasty plot…" Giovanni was quite pleased that Green was able to catch up so quickly, and he was in a great mood in general now that he has the obvious advantage on the playing field. Green's Rhydon is clearly not fast enough to catch Honchkrow off guard, and with the boost, any of the dark crow attack would be able to knock out the rocky beast in one hit. The time for his move has already come, as the mob boss bird Pokémon unleashed an array of dark energy, engulfing the opponent within the boundaries and knocking it out completely. This is the second of Green's Pokémons to go down, but unlike Giovanni, he has no direct counter to such a devious bird. The crime boss seemed to have read that from him, as a smirk reappeared on Giovanni's face, but he did not say anything. Running out of options, Green sent in Alakazam, facing against a dark-type in the opponent's team. Giovanni was not sure whether his opponent was becoming desperate or was having something up his sleeve, but regardless. Alakazam's most powerful attack against the dark bird was, well, nothing actually. Was he more death fodder?

Without hesitant, as the one with the superior beast, the yellow psychic Pokémon with the strange mustache was the first to act. It channeled energy into its pair of spoon. At this point, the crime boss was still very confident. Alakazam's most powerful attack, Psychic, does not affect Honchkrow, or did Green suddenly forget that. However, it appeared strange to him that it did not seem like mental power that was being built up within the twisted spoons. It was too late for him now, though, as a ray of ice shoots from the crossing of the instruments and hit the dark bird at full force, freezing its wings and thrown it onto the ground, knocked out.

"I see, so that is a special hidden power you have prepared…" Giovanni felt anger racing through his veins at that very moment, when Green's smile finally appeared on the boy's face. He had played right into his opponent's hand. "You had a way to finish off Honchkrow all along, but you switched in Rhydon as an assurance should I had fired off my Dark Pulse just a turn earlier."

"You catch on quick." That was the last straw for Giovanni. Sure, he was down two Pokémons and one sleeping compared to Green's two fainted, but he still can win this, handily. As Honchkrow was returned to its Pokéball, replaced it was the three moles, Dugtrio. Green narrowed his eyes. He knew that Dugtrio's special ability, Arena Trap, prevented him from switching ground Pokémons as long as it was in play. However, this was strange as well. Alakazam could handily kill Dugtrio in one hit, and it was faster as well. He still has Psychic it his arsenal, so there really was not much of a choice. The psychic Pokémon concentrated on its power, as a beam of purple was sent directly at its opposing Pokémon. Dugtrio took the hit at full force, but instead of fainting, there was something else entirely. A sash was ripped through, and protected the last of the Pokémon's hit points. Green could not realize before it was too late, as the earth under him and his Pokémon shook profusely. The power of the quake was so intense that it knocked out his Alakazam immediately, forcing it to return to Green's Pokéball. "Focus Sash…"

Green should have known that even for a type-focused Gym leader, Giovanni has to have an emergency revenge killer should things get rough. However, he knew that this was no time to beat himself up now. His clearest option for winning has been hampered, and now he had to find something to pick off the moles without it killing off his Pokémon first. It was good that he has three flying Pokémons going into this match, and this would be the perfect time to reveal the next one. From the Pokéball, an enormous water dragon emerged, its mouth gaping for violence. Giovanni seemed rather bothered by Gyarados' appearance, considering how three of his last four Pokémons were weak to the beast's most powerful. However, Dugtrio was still faster, as he could fire off a super effective hit before going down. The moles dug on to the ground and immediately flung itself back up, throwing large chunks of stones up to the air, hitting the water dragon at its weak point. It would have been a knock out otherwise, but the dragon's Intimidate largely fettered Dugtrio's ability to deliver its full force attack. Gyarados itself had no similar problem; however, as a massive waterfall befell the poor earth mole, knocking it out of play. The purple dinosaur Nidoking was quickly entitled as a replacement, however. Green knew that it has no usable rock moves to be able to hit Gyarados, but that does not mean it cannot take out the flying beast with a well timed Thunderbolt. He had two Pokémons left, one weak to electric attacks and Exeggutor who resisted it. However, should Giovanni predict the switch to Exeggutor and hit it with a Poison attack of choice, it would be all over, since Gyarados is inherently slower. So was Exeggutor, but it had the bulk to tank an attack before going down. This meant that one had to be sacrificed. As the next turn began, Nidoking covered itself in electricity and fired off a bolt of thunder straight at the water dragon, knocking it out cold indefinitely. With that, Exeggutor was let into the field once again. The trio egg plant could live through a Poison attack and recover back its life with Giga Drain, just enough so that it could tank another one and knock out Nidoking with the second Giga Drain. However, as the Poison Jab hit the egg Pokémon, he felt that there was something wrong. Exeggutor faltered a bit, as he was poisoned by Nidoking's special ability. This changed everything, as Exeggutor cannot be expected to stall out the last few turns with Giga Drain should this happen. His last Pokémons cannot one hit knock out the rest of Giovanni's team with one move without support. The grass leeching attack did come, and it reduced Nidoking's health to less than half, but he would be able to attack first next turn, with the Poison making sure Exeggutor going down the next turn after it the purple beast fainted. Green was in trouble here. He could order Exeggutor to Giga Drain again, killing off Nidoking and moving on to the rest of Giovanni's Pokémons with his last one. Thus, the turn continued. However, unlike his initial assessment, Nidoking did not stay in; instead the sleeping Nidoqueen was sent in. Green could see the smile already appearing on Giovanni's face, as the Nidoqueen should wake up at the end of the turn and stall out Exeggutor with Poison, while Giga Drain would not be able to take out the blue female dinosaur in two consecutive hits. However, the egg plant did not attack like his opponent might have wished. Instead, it turns the rest of it power into creating a Sunny Day field for the next five turns. Giovanni was not sure what that meant, considering how the grass psychic Pokémon could not have possibly carried Solarbeam. He really did not mind it much, as Nidoqueen woke up at the end of the turn while Poison chipped away at Exeggutor. There was no hesitation in the next turn, as another Poison Jab took out Exeggutor at the end of the turn, while the hit points of the blue dinosaur sat at just above half.

"Are you sure you would still win this, Mr. Oak?" Giovanni smirked. He still had three Pokémons, and Green was down to his last one. What could the kid possibly do to turn the tide of the game back now? Green did not falter however, as his glare spoke for his respond. The crime boss paid it no mind though, and put it off simply as the boy being bitter. However, his face frowned as from the last of Green's Pokéballs, emerged the giant fire breathing dragon that he was so famous for. Charizard was under the sunlight now, and it revealed quite obvious why Exeggutor used Sunny Day back then. Giovanni did not feel intimidated at all though, as Sunny Day itself was ending soon, and his last Pokémon would be able to take at least a hit and knock out the dragon handily. Charizard breathed fire at Nidoqueen, as its defense crumble under the power of the sun's amplification. Nidoking suffered the same fate, but the crime boss was not moving his face at all. The sun would end with this turn, as his Rhyperior took the stage. A Stone Edge from it would no doubt knock Charizard out. However, the fire dragon did not attack at the presumed last turn of the sun, but using Substitute to cushion the rocks flung at him by the rocky beast below. "Why bother now? The sun is already fading, and you cannot kill Rhyperior in one hit anyway."

Nothing else mattered, however. The young trainer simply dropped. He sat down firmly, legs planted across. Giovanni took it as a sign of giving, as the turn ended. However, things did not at all turn out like what he expected. As the rain of fire engulfed the rest of his league, the vengeful man turned away in rage, as he did not skip a beat in simply disappearing out of sight. Blinded by anger, he did not notice how his movements were not exactly all that concealed.


	9. The show goes on

**Just a note that this story is not losing its direction at all, and there's an update on my profile. You are advised to check that out, but not obliged to, of course.**

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_Chapter 8: The show goes on_

"That was actually quite impressive."

Green turned his head. Having focused so much on the last battle, he was not quite focused on observing his surroundings just yet. He really did not expect anyone to be here at this hour, and so did Giovanni. However, the Rocket boss' leaving after quarrelling with a twelve year old trainer might not have given the best of impression for said trainer in the eyes of the observer.

"Oh…" He immediately recognized who it was that have been secretly watching his fight. He was actually impressed that he was not able to tell who it was just my listening to the voice, but it could be attributed to being caught by surprise. That said; Green was still not quite sure whether he should be letting go of his guard just yet. He knew that Giovanni had his people within the Pokémon League, holding a strong enough connection to keep him among the Gym Leaders even though he disappeared for what seemed like years on in. "What are you doing here so early, Sabrina?"

"I…" The female psychic suddenly hesitated. It has been almost a week since she had first heard of this meeting, and she was promised to be here. However, ulterior motives were always present, and this one could not just be blurted out to just anyone, especially not to someone who she actively disliked. "It is none of your business."

"Very well, I do not plan on dedicating my time to find out, either way." Green shrugged. As long as the female gym leader did not want to cause him any trouble, he would stay out of her way. He knew that she had no good impressions of him, ever since she saw his Alakazam beating hers. It was just another obstacle in the road to fame for him, but he knew that it must have hit the psychic hard to be beaten in her own game. Regardless, it was not his problem to worry about. "What did you get from that engagement?"

"I am a psychic, you know." Sabrina held a taunting smirk on her face. She, for the first time, felt like she finally had something over this boy. However, there were many things she was still curious about. Perhaps knowing the full truth would make her feel better about herself. "I do know that you have ranted Red out to Giovanni in order to get a short cut at the Elite Four without having to get the Earth Badge."

"…You are quite observant indeed." Green gritted his teeth a little. Sure, he might have earned his badge just now, but no one else would be able to know or credit his win, and would rather just disqualify him through Sabrina's testament, especially since it was the truth. Perhaps it was time to start salvaging what was left. "So now, what are you going to do?"

"Don't give me that look boy, I know what it meant." Sabrina narrowed her eyes, taking Green's glare head on. The two of them right now had some kind of mutual respect for each other, but really was just focused on coming out of this on top and unscathed. For Sabrina, it was for getting back her pride, and for Green was to hide his dark past where it belonged: lost and never found. "Now, I would be willing to let this slide, if you tell me just what had been going on with you and Red."

"Why do you want to know?" It was another one of those things that Green simply hated admitting. Sure, everyone knew that Red beaten him just after he had become champion and took the title right from his hands, but that was not even the part he was trying to forget. He did not mind losing to his rival; in fact, he had been doing just that several times during the course of their two years adventure across Kanto and gathering Badges.

"You and Red are the only two who ever got through my Gym, and both of you got through all of the Elite Four and into the champion chamber, I know that much." Sabrina seemed rather bent on showing her position of power at this point, but she was still very curious and interested in hearing the story that Green was willing to tell soon enough. She could just hack his mind to get it out of him, but even though she was a psychic, doing something like that was especially exhausting if the subject resisted and it was simply too much effort for virtually no solid gain from her discovery. "However, I also heard you two were childhood rivals from Pallet town, you being the obvious favorite, as the grandchild of Professor Oak. There was something wrong between you two, considering how you ranted Red out, but he never said a word."

"Fine…" Green sighed. He did not want to do this, but there really was no other choice. He could pretend like it never happened, but perhaps letting it off his chest was the best decision. He never told a soul about this, not even his sister. "As you know… I am Red's childhood rival, as far as that term went. It meant there was not much more between us that a few lost marbles and childish banter. It was at least a mutual relationship. However, things changed between us when we entered the trainer business. I do not know whether it was because we were getting older or just the stress of the matter that impacted our association. I can tell you that I once lost my Pokémon because of him."

"Lost as in released or…"

"Dead," Sabrina narrowed her eyes at that notion. Usually Pokémons would just at worst faint in battle or poisoned. However, she had heard of cases of them dying too an unusually strong attack when they were already in critical conditions. Those were extremely rare, but from a large sample size, it was enough to fill the entire Lavender town. That also was something she did not want to be affiliated with. "He and I retracted from whatever was left of my friendship after that. I hated him so much that I was willing to rant him out to the Rockets, even though beating Giovanni by my own effort was not entirely out of the question. He knew, but he felt so guilty that it did not even cross his mind to tell me off."

"That sounds quite tragic." Sabrina was not sure how serious she could take that story with, but by reading Green's expression, she at least knew he was not lying. That in itself was terrifying, considering how this turned out to be real, and no one else ever knew it. "Yet you two were barely twelve at the time."

"Yes, stupid kids would be stupid kids." The boy chuckled a bit painfully at the psychic's consensus. He knew that he did a lot of wrong, but who really could blame him. As one of the ten years old trainers among thousands, he was not supposed to succeed. People only expected him to make a name for himself some time among the twenties, not to years after his debut. "Then it was our meeting within the champion chamber. No one else but the Elite Four themselves knew this, but I was the one who won."

"What?"

"Don't be so surprised. I beat him the first time." Green, his back against the wall, breathed out his words. It was something people would deem as crazy, yet he felt it made so much sense at the time. "However, I gave him a second chance to prove his worth. We agreed the one who won the best out of three would have the pleasure of declaring themselves the winner. So he ran the Elite Four the second time, something previously unheard of, I suppose. To my surprise, he beat me in our second engagement, and my grandfather came just at that moment. It was so ironic…"

"Green, you…"

"Yes, I perhaps was a fool. Grandpa gave me a good scolding, then escort Red towards the last chamber without even consenting what the two of us would say, not like I would sound anything more than a sour loser in his eyes." His voice still bitter, Green tried his best to give out the last of his secrets, in hope to get everything off his regrets. "So just like that, Red was declared champion, even though his chances were just as good as mine. He then disappeared off sight, as you might have heard, as he felt that he did not deserve the title. Where he is right now I do not know, as you might have overheard from my little conversation with Giovanni, but I knew he would probably return one day so we can finish what we started."

"That was a lot to take in." Sabrina finally gave off a smile. She knew for sure that the boy was not lying, and somehow she was able to understand his position. It was not one of the saddest story ever been told, but it certainly was unexpected. It went without saying that after hearing this, she no longer had any plans to come clean with her testament, and burying all of that in the past was probably the best decision to make after all. "Rest assured I have no intentions of disowning you."

"I appreciate it." Green also gave her a weak smile. Sure, he was mature for his age, but he was still only twelve. It took him two years to finish his first league run, and he really did not seem to want to do it again. However, before either of them could say something, they spotted a transportation unit up on the cable line, descending towards their position. It was the preferred ride for gym leaders, and it was also a signal that either one of them or one of the Elite Fours were coming. It was moderately silent, all leading up to the point when they saw a familiar face.

"Sabrina!" Just like that, the black haired botanist burst out of the transport and came onto her friend who was standing nearby, greeting her with a warm embrace. It embarrassed the psychic to no end, not to mention Green staring at them with a very strange look in his eyes. He was not sure what to make of it. "I've missed you."

"Greetings to you too, Erika." Sabrina was honestly not been expecting this. She was not sure how to react to this situation, even though it would have been much better if Green was not here. What she failed to mention that she only came here early to be able to see Erika in and spying on Giovanni and Green's battle was simply a complication that emerged. She greets her friend back, but tried to divert her gaze towards their audience. "How… how are you?"

"Oh, hello Green." Erika noticed the trainer being there, and waved at him with her left arm. Her right one still had no trouble clinging on Sabrina, or at least it would if Sabrina had not extend her own to support the weight of the botanist. Green knew nothing else to do but wave back awkwardly. "How's it going?"

"I… think I would leave you two alone." Green might not have any experience in much of anything except his grandfather's line of work, but he clearly was not dense. If he felt like he was intruding, he would leave. If he felt like something was there, he was going to hold on to that thought. "Sorry for the intrusion."

...

"Why haven't you called me?" Next thing she knew, Erika was pouting at her. Sabrina's eyes went wide open. She did not recall promising to call ever, so she was really not sure what was going on. However, just because Erika looked like that, the psychic felt both flustered and awkward, even though they were sort of a lone now. "I have been waiting for six days!"

"I… did I promise to call you?" She stalled a bit of time with that question as her memories raced back to that last day. Erika left the next morning on the return trip of the S.S. Anne, and the night before that ended with the two of them watching the stars. She had no idea when it was implied that she was going to call. "I don't remember that at all."

"No, you didn't promise." Now Sabrina was even more confused, but Erika seemed to not wanting to let go of her pout at all, or her hurt expression. "But aren't we at least close friends now? Close friends are supposed to call and to check up on each other!"

"But you didn't call me either did you?"

"I was at your place for a full day!"

The psychic decided to stop the vicious circle and just stayed quiet. Erika seemed like a child, but it did make her friend feel rather guilty. Sabrina had no other option, so she just sighed. It was not something she was used to do, but she would be willing this time.

"I'm sorry Erika. I would remember to call once in a while at least."

"Great!" Just like that, both of their moods were lifted. Sabrina just realized that she had just admitted them to be close friends, though somehow that was not as annoying and troublesome as she had expected. Sure, Erika was really hyper active and upbeat, but it never really gotten on her nerves, as it was actually rather enjoyable for such a downer type like Sabrina. "Let's go, people should be here soon!"

That said; the botanist dragged her friends into the inner chambers with her. They had not been here in a while so Erika took the most use of her time to look around and admire the changes, and she never forgot to pull Sabrina with her. She was like a little girl in the museum for the first time, getting her older sister to go with her anywhere she wanted. Time flies when you are having fun, they said. It was not long before the nine o'clock bell rung up on the League's halls, signaling everyone on duty to report to their respective station and everyone else to be at the meeting hall. It captured the attention of the duo as well, and they complied with arriving.

Soon, the meeting hall was densely populated with people who were called to be there, and those who were not.

"Settle please, people." Blaine, the bald scientist, was apparently the League's representative this time around. Unknown to a lot of people, the Pokémon League is actually a very profitable organization ran by the board of directors. However, since they knew more about marketing than Pokémons, they chose one gym leader as representative in order to get their ideas across in meetings like this. "As you all know, another round of the league run has concluded, and we are faced with even more problems."

"An update on the situations would be nice." Said Brock, the young man in jerseys. He, along with most of the people here, was called to the meeting, not briefed, so he was rather skeptical of what it would achieve, although it would not be his problem regardless.

"Ah yes, Miss Lorelei, would you please?" Lorelei of the Elite Four, also the organizer, was the woman in the black business dress sitting next to Blaine, with all sorts of documents in hand. It seems she had been busy for the last couple of weeks, and people could tell if it were not for her sunglasses that she preferred to have on at all times. "How are fixing the problems going so far?"

"Well, Blaine, and the rest obviously, we have some that have been fixing themselves at the moment, but I am going to read the causes first." Raising the glasses just a bit more above her nose, she put the document down, which was obviously something no one had expected. "Well, Red as our current champion has decided to step down from doing any League work or obligations. Lance, as one of our Elite Four has also stepped down his position for family reasons, at least that was what he told us. Kohga, our Fuchsia Gym Leader, has already stepped down. Also obviously Giovanni has been revoked of his position as Gym Leader of Viridian due to criminal charges and status. That seems to be all."

"Quite the long list there, actually." Agatha, the old woman sitting at the corner of the table, chuckled lightly in an amused tone. Anyone who knew her knew that she was also very skeptical of everyone else's work, and it should not be too strange for her to simply scoff off opinions. Of course it was still annoying nonetheless, and people did not appreciate it. She never really was a part of the discussion, simply being there as if to piss people off. "How are you going to fix that mess?"

"Well, Agatha, we already covered most of it." Blaine, as the representative, hated her attitude. It was not only defeatist but elitist and never really helped anyone. He and the rest of the league had been working hard to figure out a solution after all, and he would very much rather people appreciate his work. "Red leaving was unfortunate, but it really was also not much of a hole that we need to cover, so it should be fine. Kohga has literally disappeared off the face of the earth, but not before recommending to us that his daughter would be more than gladly to fill the job. Is that right, Janine?"

"Yes." The female sitting across from him replied. People could clearly see the resemblance between her and her father, both being ninjas and obsessed with the color purple. "I am ready to display my qualifications should it be needed."

"Very well, let's leave that for now, moving on." Blaine continued down the list. There were people he needed to get decisions across. "While the authorities go after Giovanni, we have a gaping miss in his position. Today, I invited Mr. Green Oak, grandson to Professor Oak, here in order to nominate him to fill the position."

Green was sitting by his lonesome in a corner, as he heard his name being called. He was not quite sure of how to react. He was not actually informed of why he was being called here in the first place, but he had nothing against replacing Giovanni at Viridian, not to mention how close that city is to his own home. It was a win-win at least, and since the league would not have another run for two more years, he could still continue his travels and be back when he needed it. He was for the proposal, but other people might not be.

"No." That was Agatha, as people's attention was immediately drawn to her. She did not approve of this nomination at all. "The kid's twelve, what would he able to do? At least Giovanni was half way decent for his age. Who is to say this kid would be able to fill his shoes."

"Giovanni was also a villain, Agatha."

"My point stands."

With that, small discussions started to erupt around the conference room. Even though no one liked Agatha, she did bring towards a good point. A citizen that young cannot be verified of his responsibility and ability to lead a position in a big cooperation such as this.

"Alright, we shall have a vote of majority for this." Blaine shook his head slightly. He just wanted to have this over with, but he should have known that since this is Green, Agatha would be against it. Not many people knew, but the old woman had quite the personal vendetta against Green's grandfather, but that was not for the public to be aware of. "Anyone who would like to state their case before we get to voting please do so."

"I say I'm all for voting the kid up." Sabrina finally said something. She had been called to meetings before, and none of those times were anyone else but Erika had gotten the slightest of positive impression of her. Most of the time she just liked to argue for the sake of the argument, and needless to say people did not like it one bit. "Sure he's twelve, but some of us here is not even half way as responsible as he is."

"Who are you to talk for him, Sabrina?" Bruno, the man in karate uniform, stated. Even though it might have sounded offensive, everyone knew he was one of the calmest and most indiscriminative minds in the whole league.

"Well I battled him, wise guy." Sabrina simply scoffed his question off as silly. "I am also a psychic, I can read him."

"Aw, are you in love with this young brat or something?" Agatha was pushing her case. It had always been one of her greatest pleasures to disclaim Sabrina's opinion, and this was just the case. "I should have known."

"You better watch what your mouth you old fart." Sabrina was going to lose it soon at this rate. She knew that nothing good would come of a meeting like this, but she just had to bite that old woman off. "You are just obsessed with going against the Oaks, aren't you?"

"Why you little wench…"

"Stop it!" Erika screamed off the top of her lungs. She had enough of this, and she just wanted it to end. She was putting her foot down for the first time in her life. "Stop fighting over this nonsense. I am with Sabrina on this, and Agatha, just sit down!"

Silence befallen the room, as not a single one of the people present, all having talked to Erika before, was quite ready for such an outbreak from one of the most loveable people they have ever met, and to defend one of the least likeable as well.

"Let's just skip to the voting then…"


	10. Call it what you want

**This one was slightly shorter than I expected.**

**Slightly**

* * *

_Chapter 9: Call it what you want_

"Fairly surprising…" Green pondered. He had not been around many people ever since his last family union. He used to feel bitter every time that occurred, because unlike most people's perception, his grandfather is an extremely demanding person, and would only bother him about it. It only got worse after he supposedly "lost" the champion title to Red, not that he really had not stopped caring about what the old man said or anything. Only his sister mattered now, and she had been someone who stuck by him through all the hardships. However, he knew he needed to make it on his own, or else he would just be a failure. Perhaps making it as the champion was not his destiny, and then it was merely a passing stage in his lively future.

It was a bit unexpected for his upcoming to be so heavily supported, at least to him. He would imagine at least nearly half of the votes were to be going against him, yet he got the position by a fairly large margin, with only Agatha and, astonishingly enough, Sabrina who voted him negative. The old woman's problems were quite clear, but whatever made Sabrina so unstable about this matter was beyond him. It was amazing enough that she actually went out of her way to argue for his benefits, yet voted against him in the end. It really did not affect the results in any negative way, but it was only bothering him, a lot in fact. The meeting officially ended half an hour ago, and most of everyone had already made their way away from the office. It would seem that no one would truly like to stay here if not for official business, since this was a secluded half-island that branched out from the outskirt of Viridian.

Regardless, he had a new job now, as the Gym leader of Viridian City and possessor of the Earth Badge, ironically the only badge he did not earn during his original run through of the league which took a full two years. The city was also relatively close to Pallet town, so he would have no problem with visiting his sister rather frequently. His plan for the moment includes telling his family about his new occupation and reshaping the Gym to his own likings, as well as finding out just why obtaining such a job required signing such a long contract. Of course, there was one thing he also needed to do before leaving with his leader card in hand.

Finding Sabrina was his objective.

He had this certain fascination with the woman, but it was nothing he had quite felt before. He was too young to even be remotely romantic, and in his mind there had to be a different characteristic that was drawing his subconscious attention. It was a strange vibe that the woman gave out, which positively had his mind in boggles for quite a few moments. He could also sense it somewhere else in the meeting room, but was unable to make it out. Of course, such a thing he would keep to himself to deduct with observation, not that the psychic could not suck it out with whatever her techniques were later. Right now, he was just very curious.

He almost decided to follow her path after the conference ended, but did not do it. He might be twelve, but at least he knew how to avoid being absolutely crass about a certain subject. Instead, he saw her retreating to the restroom, and turned to waiting at the exit instead. It had evidently been half an hour without her showing up though, and everyone else appeared to have already left. Unless she could turn invisible or something similar, she was still inside. Thinking that he could no longer wait things out, Green opted to go inside to find her. However, the place was big, and there was a good chance if she ever left, he would have missed her.

Taking out one of his Pokéballs, Green popped up the white eye in the front, and released his Pidgeot. The bird Pokémon flapped its wings; glad to be alive after getting knocked out quite hard in the last battle. Green had a new assignment for it, however.

"You stay here and inform me whenever someone approaches the exit, alright?"

With that settled after random sounds of bird growls that he could not fully make out, Green headed inside. He would obviously not be able to check the restroom for whatever reasons, so he just settled on working his way from the closest place to him to his furthest. The view of the HQ was exotic, but at times like this it seemed absolutely unnecessary and even hindering to one's progress, but clearly the engineers did not have that in mind while designing this place. His efficiency was less than desirable however, considering how much time he was taking just to walk from room to room. Everything was big, and that was demotivating at best.

However, an occurrence nearby got his attention. He could faintly hear sounds from the distance, echoing through the rooftops and reflecting back to him. Even though it was a lead to go on, Green knew to not get excited just yet. This entire facility was enclosed space, not to mention very quiet, thus perception of sounds in the air can be rather deceptive at times. Still, he at least had a general direction to head towards. It was a little left of his current facing, and he noticed that it was the path which leads towards the garden. He would not really think of Sabrina as someone who would enjoy a garden's beauteous prospect, but he could be very wrong. Still, there was no guarantee that it was her either, since there were still workers here whose jobs are to maintain the place.

As he arrived at the garden in question, Green realized that he had never been here before. The business side of his doings had robbed him of times to find out about the more pleasurable enjoyments of life, not that he was complaining. He was still young, and as long as he did not work his life away until he was old and grey, he was still in the clear. Even though admiring the marvelous sight before him was always an option, he knew that he could come back whenever he wanted now, and there was something more significant to his interests at the moment. The sounds had been getting clearer now that he had approached its sources rather close, and he was at least half way being able to make comprehend what those were. It seemed that there was more than one person, as it was a conversation that he was eavesdropping on. He crept closer, without even knowing why he was doing so, in order to take a better look. Surprisingly enough, Sabrina was actually there talking, but she was not alone.

"How much longer are we going to stay here Erika?" The female psychic appeared rather bored of what was happening, as she obviously was not paying as much attention to the scenery around so much as to her friend, which was obviously fascinated. However, from his observation alone, Green felt that she was not at all annoyed and actually content about her current situation, and perhaps the complaints were just out of habit. "It has been who knows how long and we have not even seen most of the garden yet."

"Just a little bit more, please." The botanist was in her element right now, and there was simply no taking that back. She wanted to do whatever possible to extend their time here as long as possible, even if it did result to using something Sabrina herself despised to see. Erika turned to her friend and after seeing the psychic's seemingly disapproval expression; she pouted. From his angle, Green could not truly see what kind of face that Erika was making, but he was able to observe Sabrina turning from surprised, to red, to a compliant stare. "It has been a long time since I was able to be here, please?"

"Fine…" Gritting her teeth, the psychic sighed slightly. She knew fairly well she could never win like this. They are like newly weds on their honeymoon, with the wife pulling the husband everywhere and he acted like he liked it, while in truth he would just follow her anywhere regardless. The fundamental difference, however, is that the two of them were not a couple, so the logic of why she was doing this escapes Sabrina. Still, it did not actually hurt. Since the League would not need another reboot for a year, her Gym work was basically non existent, and it was not like Dan could not take care of the cleaning by himself anyway. "Still, why now? You could do it any other time, just go back here without me and you can stay here as long as you would like, and would not have me to affect your excess time like this."

"But it's lonely without you." That struck a chord, in both Sabrina and Green. The female psychic could swear she did not hear it right. Surely the two of them were friends now; that much was easy to understand. However, there was no reason that their friendship should clash with their own callings or anything. Thinking back, Sabrina thought that she might had done that first when she invited Erika back to her place for that mental experiment, of which the results she had not been able to find the courage to assess just yet. Green however, felt something completely different. He felt that vibe of which Sabrina herself had given off before. He was still unable to pin point exactly what it meant. He did feel like he was onto something, but not what just yet. "Come on!"

"Yeah…" Even though she was being pulled everywhere, Sabrina had stopped resisting completely. This activity might not compare to her meditation in terms of efficiency and a general purpose, but it was certainly fun. She rethought that. The activity was not fun at all, in fact extremely boring and tedious. It was only fun because Erika was there and strangely enough; that in itself was not bothering. "Still, why did you ever grow up to like plants so much?"

"I have always liked plants, ever since I was young. It was mostly an unexplainable childhood fascination, not any kind of mental trauma or anything." Her smile warded off Sabrina's inquisitiveness, but not Green's. "Stereotypically, I liked Grass Pokémons as well." Erika temporarily let go of her friend's hand and left to take a better look at one of the flowers amongst the mist of branches. Green had not been discovered, but at this point he just felt weird watching this situation unfolded. Regardless, he continued to do so, but now with even more caution, since curiosity was something hard to resist. Erika bended down and plucked up the flower from before. It appeared to have an alluring aroma that was able to get her attention, or at least that was what the others thought. Bringing the flower back, attention was drawn to it by virtue of its numerous perennial bulbous herbs having broadly lanceolate leaves. It was definitely showy, and Sabrina was unaware of the idea behind picking one up. Of course, she really had not expected the botanist to approach her with it either. "Hold still please."

"What?" Sabrina could not really understand, but she complied. Erika was a little shorter than her, so she kneeled down a little so that the botanist could reach her hair, and presumably inserted the flower among those cyan locks. A few swipes upon the hair and Erika moved backwards, queuing Sabrina to stand up straight again. "That is simply dazzling."

"Does the flower stand out that much?" Sabrina inquired, trying her best not to compromise its settings as she reached up and touched it. It did not truly seem like it was too fitting for her hair length and color much, but she was no expert on such a thing.

"No, it is not the flower." Erika smiled radiantly as she walked away, signaling her friend to follow. She was heading for the door, and Green took that as a sign that he needed to sneak out of here before the two noticed. Luckily enough, they were both too occupied to detect his running away. Of course, that was what he thought. Erika's smile went just a little bit brighter after Green left the building. "It's you."

Sabrina was left speechless, absolutely stunned by those words. Forget the subtle hinting; that was clear enough what was going on. Standing utterly still, the psychic was waiting for something else to happen, because she simply had nothing to say at this moment that did not involves sounds of random gurgling and choking on her own words. Erika seemed to be paying no mind to her friend's lack of motion, as she simply continued to smile, as if trying to confuse Sabrina even more. Nevertheless, she had to react.

"What is wrong?" Her smile turned into an innocent neutral state, as those eyes drilled deep as a very effective interrogation tool working against the psychic. Sabrina never thought that after all these years of doing the very same thing to countless of people; karma would go back and bite her really hard. Notwithstanding, there was simply not much choices left, and she chose the most obvious one. "Sabrina?"

She ran away.

Sabrina had no idea what she was doing until her mind started working again after realizing that she had reached the cable station. She did not notice whether she had passed anything on the way to it. However, she did hear the sounds of wings flapping flying away from her. She was seriously reconsidering what she just had done, and why she did it. There was no good reason for her to left Erika there like that, but what if her worries were true? The psychic never thought of herself as someone who would shy away from even the slightest hints at a seriously relationship that might actually be compliant to her orientation like this, but it would appear as well. In a series of bad judgment, Sabrina simply decided to leave. She quickly swiped her Gym leader card onto the machine as the next cable car in line opened up, swallowing her figure whole as she stepped in.

No more than a minute after she left, Green came to the station running, but he realized he was too late. His Pidgeot was able to timely inform him of Sabrina's departure, but he was nowhere near fast enough, considering that he was a still just twelve years old. Sighing, he knew that he missed his chance. He regretted not following her when he saw the woman running away right pass him while he was sneaking back. He was in the loss to how that exactly happened, however, as the last of her conversation with the botanist he was not able to observe. He had no business with Erika however, considering everything between her and Sabrina was their relationship that he had nothing to do with.

That was exactly why he felt the need to turn back and have a look.

He was forming an artificial explanation for what just happened in his head, but still, none that made sense came to mind. He also knew not of Erika's whereabouts as well, for she might have left to some other places while he was gone. Even so, there was not much stopping him from revisiting the garden, for lack of a better plan. He did not really know what to expect, but he got it anyway.

There she was, Erika, standing perfectly still where she was when Sabrina ran out. Green was not at all bothering trying to hide himself at this point, since the botanist did not really look like she was in the position to question anyone. She was simply staring down, facing away from the door, so he could not really take a good look at her face.

"Why did you come back?" Erika spoke of a heavy voice, which startled the boy to no end. He, nor would anyone, did not expect her to be able to opine such a disheartening tone. It was both frightening and depressing, to say the least. However, what was even more surprising to him was that she said "come back", which meant that the botanist was perfectly aware of the fact that Green had been observing her and Sabrina the first time around. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Erika…" He spoke, but his thoughts cut off his own words. He was unwary of the situation that had caused this complication, so he refrained from speaking until he was sure of what was going on. He approached her, and he knew that Erika was conscious of that fact. The first thing he was aiming for was to find anything that might have been spying on him, and quickly, with decent attention, he was able to notice the spying eyes of a Tangle spying in the bushes. It had been acting as Erika's "eyes" all these times. He should have figured that out the last time, but it made no significance now. "What happened?"

"It does not concern you." She was definitely being difficult, but he could not blame her. Judging by what the magnitude of whatever event that took place must have been to cause such a reaction, he was sure it was bigger than him at the very least. Still, he could somewhat guess the general problem, but being terribly wrong was always an option.

"I…"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" That came as quite a stun. Erika was staring straight at him, screaming out her frustration along with her apparent tears. It was such an elegant melancholy that it caught him completely off guard. However, his intentions of staying disappeared. Green simply had no other choice but to turn around and comply with the botanist's request, simply because its very own prospect was heartbreaking. He quietly retreated back to the station and left the HQ with many unanswered questions.


	11. Carmen

**Free-style entries best entries**

* * *

_Chapter 10: Carmen_

"Yes?" It was a beautiful day. Blue sky, green grass, clear water and that hinge of spring air was just what she needed. She had been travelling a lot, up and down the region just trying to have a good time. It had been the time for her to return though, having been on the road for close to two months now. She was never an avid Pokémon trainer, despite her relatives being generally high-ranked among societies for their Pokémon-related activities. To be quite honest, she never did feel the need to. All she wanted was to have a kid to take care of after all. Raising that child was, surprisingly, the best part of her life, but that was not without resentment. Nurturing such a problem individual was not easy, and now that it was over, she had to use her time to pamper herself. It did not hurt to have a good conversation once in a while though. "Who is this?"

"Mom?" Speak of the devil, "I need to talk to you about something."

"Why of course dear," Penny would have liked nothing more. Living by herself had its own merits, but it got lonely from time to time. That would be why she was travelling so much in the first place. Nothing really beat a call from her lovely daughter, however. It was not hard for her to notice the tone in the psychic's voice, though. There was obviously something wrong, and if anything she would like to be there and help fix that problem. "I will always have time for you, drop by whenever you want."

"Thank you mother," A moment of pause, then spoken the one thing, which she would never have expected. "I'm glad I have you right now."

"Of course dear." Sabrina hung up the phone quickly after, and she would not have been able to see the face of her mother anyway. Penny's eyes were sparkling with energy and her hands were pumped with commitment. Her daughter has finally needed her again. She felt like squealing. Calming herself down with a few deep breathes; she still boasted that bright smile on her face, as she dipped herself into the pool and brushed off the odd day's heat. This was her best day in a long time. She had so many things planned out to greet her daughter after she dries off. Perhaps a big meal, their old favorite DVD or even karaoke. The possibilities were endless.

…

"Hello dear!" Penny opened the door with a huge smile on her face. What she saw however, was not what she had expected at all. Sure, she never really got around to thinking what exactly her daughter might has been needing her for, but it was certainly not going to be that serious.

She might have just been very wrong.

Sabrina did not immediately answer. The psychic was simply standing there on the front porch, staring deeply into the broken night. It was certainly much later than Penny had expected, considering how they were not even living that far away from each other. The psychic, however, did give out a worrying vibe that her mother was able to pick up almost instantly. "What is the matter dear?"

"Can I go in first?" Chilling voice lead the mother to predict it was nothing but bad news. She simply stood aside and allowed her daughter the entrance. The psychic was quick with her movements, simply stepping into the luxurious condo that was her mother's place. She had been living her entire childhood here, and there had always been something inside her telling her to come back here when she really needed help. She was just hoping that her trip was worth it. As she entered and rested upon the couch in the living room, her mother sealed the door and soon joined her in sitting. "Mom…"

"Yes dear?" Penny was now starting to look worried. Her daughter was neither being snide nor bitter like normal when the two of them met, but instead just appeared depressed. She knew her child had always been a dark and spiritual kid, but the psychic was never the kind to get too emotional off of much of anything, and this had been nothing but discarding that belief. "What did you come here to talk about?"

"Mom, have you…" Sabrina was taking her time with the story. Her hands clutching to the leather beneath it, she pushed out each word through a single breath. It did take a while, but her message got through barely coherent. "Have you ever been so scared of doing something yet felt like you have to do it?"

"Why do you ask such a thing dear?" Penny was starting to understand how her daughter was not faring well. It was not even anything strange, but only her daughter being human, just like everyone else. The psychic had been putting up bravado for so long that even her own mother had begun to judge her and think of her differently. Penny knew her daughter though, at least as a child.

"Please just answer me, mother." It was obvious that Sabrina was being deeply troubled by her thoughts. Her mind had been stuck within this mess ever since her visit to the Pokémon League a few days ago. It got so bad that she had to discard every part of the image she had been trying to put up for quite a while and opted to ask her mother for help. It certainly was not easy, but what she had been experiencing warranted even that kind of advice. "Have you?"

"Certainly, dear. Your father was certainly one of them." Sabrina looked at her mother astonishingly. That was not exactly that kind of answer she thought her mother would give. Penny just smiled as she ran her finger through that lavish long dark hair, admiring its textures. "There is no need to act so surprised honey. It did not mean I love him or anything."

"What exactly do you mean by that then?" More questions come, but Penny knew better than letting those swarm her. She was supposed to be the calm and collective mother after all, and this was all instinctive to her.

"I took a huge gamble on him, dear. He was always such a hard head, but he seemed so trust worthy, and also I was impatient, that I decided to go for it." She reached her hand out and pulled the psychic in for an embrace. Sabrina was certainly much bigger now than she was when they used to do this frequently, but Penny's love for her daughter had not diminished at all. If anything, it had grown immensely since then, despite the obvious lack of respect that her once childish offspring was no longer giving her. "He turned out to be the most trustworthy person I could have found. Without him, you would not have existed, and we would not be here together right now."

"He loved you didn't he?" Sabrina, her head well rested within her mother's embrace, asked something that she had been meaning to for a long time now. Back when she was still a kid living with her parents, the two of them were so different that a lot of times she did not even know who to turn to. Eventually she took after her mother, but that was not to say that her father did not support that notion. "He did all of this just to be with you for all of those years."

"I believe so, that bastard; even though I told him I would never love him." Penny laughed slightly. Her daughter's words certainly brought back memories. She supposed she was being unfair to her daughter's father, but then again he quite literally asked for it. There was not a fraction of guilt upon her conscience, but it did remind her of him quite often. "He stuck with me anyways; even helped me raised my child half decently."

"So did it pay off in the end?" Sabrina spoke lightly, as she could feel her mother slowly nod in agreement. She was now leaning completely towards Penny, as this was definitely an emotional childhood moment she was experiencing again. It was something she had not feel in a long time, so she might as well enjoy it while it lasted. "It was not easy though, right?"

"Oh hell no," Penny lightly placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead. All of this, without a doubt, gave her a lot more insight into her daughter's mind and how she should deal with this situation. "It was definitely the rocky road in. We did not have enough in common, and we would fight constantly over the pettiest thing. If only artificial fertilization existed back then things were a lot easier, so I would not have to have sex with him when I felt like gutting him."

"Mom!"

"Sorry dear, I know you do not like to hear that kind of things." Penny poked the psychic's cheeks a little as if they were inflated with red. Sabrina did not react too harshly to that though. She did not respond positively, but she did not outright brush it off either. "Still, looking at the end results, I can tell you it was all worth it."

"Do you really love me that much mom?" Sabrina had never quite understood the position her mother was coming from, as she obviously had never given birth before. Sure, when she was young, times were nice and the two of them got along comfortably well. When her teenage years rolled around, however, her mom suddenly seemed so far apart that she felt that she should act the same. It had been almost a decade now and their relationship had yet to change for the better. If someone would act like that to her, Sabrina would be assured to break them. "I mean I have not been treating you in the best ways."

"Oh silly, I would always love you that much." Penny playfully stretched her hands to the side, letting her daughter drop to her lap. "I took all of those risks for a reason, and I AM your mother."

"So are you saying that I should just go for it?" Sabrina, at this epitome of emotions, finally decided to ask the one thing that she came here for. She felt like her mother did not need her to provide the context, which she had been afraid to mention, and simply would just give her the answer she wanted.

"If you feel like it's worth it." A beaming smile greeted her thoughts. "Go for it."

…

"Right…" Sabrina wakes up on the queen-sized bed. The new day's light was already shining upon her face, waking her up from a shallow slumber. Looking around, her mother was nowhere to be found. For all she knew, Penny could be driving to Johto right in that Cadillac, but it was not of her concerns. It was all symbolism after all. Her mother wanted her to deal with this by herself, and she will. It had been a long while since she had slept in this bed; Sabrina noted. Way back when she used to have nightmares and would climb into her mother's bed. It was a sign of reassurance, and if her mother's inability to be here for her was one, she would just take it. "Another trip to Celadon."

Toughened up her own skin was what she needed to do, Sabrina thought. This would not be easy, but she got herself into this mess after all. It was now her problem that she must pull out of. Taking no more time, she quickly exited the house. The place was only a few minutes' walk from the main streets, so she opted to do that instead. Once there, it was simply a matter of deciding whether she would be better off taking the S.S. Anne once again or just get taxi to drive her all the way there. She figured it would be best not to have to deal with distractions of switching transportation. Decided upon that, she went and called a cab, simplistic and to the point.

The road trip was not nearly as calming as she thought it would be however, as time and time again her concentration was broken by honking car noises, the driver trying to make small talk or the fact that traffic was not being kind to her cause whatsoever.

Or perhaps it was the fact that she could not stop thinking.


End file.
